Heat wave continues to sweep across India, toll over 1,400
Hyderabad/New Delhi/Mumbai/Jaipur May 28 The searing heat wave continued unabated on Thursday in many parts of India, claiming another 65 lives in Andhra and Telangana alone while rains brought relief in some states, officials said.
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana continued to reel under a heat wave, accounting for 35 and 30 deaths respectively, taking the toll to over 1,400 in the two Telugu states this summer, officials said.
Four deaths due to sunstroke were reported from West Bengal and one from Bihar, in addition to the two from New Delhi on Wednesday. According to unofficial sources, two dozen people have died in Bihar.
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned that the heat wave conditions will continue at few places in Odisha, Vidarbha, Jharkhand and Telangana and at isolated places over Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and coastal Andhra Pradesh over next two days.
It has also forecast rain/thunder showers at most places in the northeast and at a few places in Jammu and Kashmir, coastal and south interior Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
No respite from the blistering heat was in sight in Andhra and Telangana as both states sizzled with the highest temperature of 47 degrees Celsius.
Khammam and Nizamabad in Telangana recorded 47 degree Celsius, as did Nandigama and Ongole in Andhra Pradesh.
According to the Hyderabad Meteorological Centre, though rains brought the temperature down in some parts of coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema, severe heat wave conditions continued in Andhra Pradesh
The authorities had confirmed 1,367 deaths till Wednesday night. Andhra Pradesh accounted for 1,027 deaths while 340 people died in Telangana.
The heat wave paralysed life in Rajasthan, which continued to reel under heat wave conditions on Thursday, with the maximum temperature hovering between 40 and 45 degrees Celsius.
The temperatures in some places, including state capital Jaipur was higher by 3-4 degree celsius above the average.
Jaipur was hot at 44.7 degree celsius, four degrees above average.
Bundi and Kota were sizzling at 45.5 degrees Celsius and 45.4 degrees.
"The heat wave is likely to prevail in some places in Rajasthan in the next 24 hours. Jaipur will see partly cloudy skies with the possibility of a dust storm. The maximum and minimum temperatures will be around 44 degrees and 28 degrees respectively in Jaipur in next 24 hours," a weather department official told IANS on Thursday evening.
The hills of Himachal Pradesh experienced warm weather, with Una town recording a high of 43.2 degrees Celsius.
"Temperatures soared due to the dry spell. Shimla recorded a maximum temperature of 28.5 degrees Celsius, four degrees above normal (average) for this time of the year," an official of the meteorological department here told IANS.
Dharamsala, the headquarters of the Tibetan government-in-exile, recorded 32.6 degrees Celsius, five notches above average.
It was a hot and dry Thursday in the national capital, with the maximum temperature recorded at 41.1 degrees Celsius, a notch above the season's average. The Met office in New Delhi forecast similar conditions on Friday, with the sky likely to be clear through the day.
The maximum and the minimum temperatures are likely to hover around 41 degree and 27 degree celius.
"The temperature for another 3-4 days is likely to fluctuate between 40 and 41 degrees. Friday will also see a clear sky and hot day," an official of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in New Delhi.
Heat wave conditions continued in Bihar with the mercury touching 41.7 degree Celsius in Gaya district, the hottest place in the state and Patna recording 39 degree Celsius, met officials said in Patna on Thursday.
"People will have to wait for a few more days to get any respite from the prevailing severe heatwave, met office director A.K. Sen said.
Vayas ji, the principal secretary of the Bihar disaster management department told IANS that heat wave has claimed one life so far. However, unofficial reports received from different parts of state said that at least two dozen people have died in the last one week due to the heat wave.
Uttar Pradesh also continued to reel under the intense heat with the Met Office promising no immediate relief from the scorcher.
The weather office in Lucknow said maximum temperatures across the state were expected to rise further during the next 24 hours to Friday evening.
"Bundelkhand region and parts of western UP will see as much as three degrees rise in day temperatures," said UP meteorological department director J.P. Gupta
Slight relief was experienced from the heat wave conditions in certain parts of Maharashtra's Vidarbha and Marathwada regions though high temperatures ruled the roost in most areas on Thursday.
Chandrapur recorded the highest temperature of 47 degrees Celsius and Nagpur was second at 46 degrees, though the state has no officially recorded heat-wave related casualties.
Wardha, Akola and Parbhani recorded 45 degrees - a degree higher than Wednesday -while Yavatmal stood at 44 degrees on Thursday.
Intermittent drizzle and strong winds overnight brought welcome relief to Bhopal and other places in Madhya Pradesh which had been reeling under blistering heat wave conditions.
The residents of Bengaluru experienced pleasant weather on Thursday, while other parts of Karnataka braved a heat wave, officials said.
Higher temperatures were recorded in other parts of the state - it was 42.5 degrees Celsius in Kalaburgi, 41.5 degrees in Bijapur and 42.4 degrees Celsius in Raichur.
