India: Heatwave claims over 550 lives and total going up

[Anthea]

Zee Media Bureau

Heatwave claims over 550 lives so far, Delhi saw hottest day

New Delhi: Sweltering heatwave conditions continued in various parts of the country, causing death of over 550 people, mostly in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, so far in the season.

National capital Delhi saw the hottest day, recording 45.5 degree celsius. Temperature in several other places hovered around the same mark while industrial town of Angul in Odisha recorded a maximum temperature of 47.

The Palam observatory in Delhi recorded a maximum temperature of 46.4 degrees.

There may be some respite from the sweltering heat tomorrow with the weatherman predicting dust storm and thunder storm.

In Telangana, the heat wave has claimed 215 lives since May 15, said Special Commissioner for Disaster Management, Sada Bhargavi.

In Andhra Pradesh, the number stood at 302 till this evening, said Tulsi Rani, Special Commissioner for Disaster Management, adding that data from different districts was still being compiled.

Temperatures have been hovering around 45 degree Celsius in both the states for the last few days.

A bulletin from the Met department said Ramagundam, Nalgonda and Khammam recorded 45 degree celsius.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has directed the state administration to open camps for providing drinking water and butter milk as a measure of protection against the severe heat conditions.

He also appealed to the general public to avoid sun from 11 AM to 4.30 PM, if possible.

Meanwhile, a weather department official said in Visakhapatnam that the heatwave conditions will prevail for another day and thundershowers are likely to occur in the north-coastal Andhra Pradesh by tonight or tomorrow.

However, the Indian Meteorological Department has predicted that the heat wave will continue till May 30.

On Monday, the Met Department had predicted a hot day for Delhi with the maximum temperature expected to be around 44 degrees.

Met Director, BP Yadav, told ANI, “For the next three days, there will be no change in the heat wave conditions in Delhi.”

He added that thunderstorms are expected in areas of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and NCR around May 28.

The national capital had recorded the season's highest temperature of 44.5 degrees Celsius, five degrees above normal, at the Safdarjung observatory on Saturday.

Meanwhile, commuters in Kolkata are in for a tough time as the Bengal Taxi Association has refused to ply their cabs in the city between 11:00 am to 4:00 pm from today, as per news reports.

The association took the decision after the death of a 52-year-old cab driver due to intense heat.

The heat wave has swept several regions of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka.

On Sunday, the mercury touched 46.5 degrees in Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, with Kota close behind at 45.4 degrees. Churu, Sriganganagar, Jaipur, Barmer, Bikaner, Ajmer and Dabok too recorded high temperatures.

Yesterday, the blistering heat wave also hit Haryana and Punjab, and Chandigarh which recorded the season's hottest day so far.

In Punjab, Amritsar continued to reel under a temperature of 43.6 degrees. Ludhiana and Patiala too recorded high temperatures.

In West Bengal too, the effect of the heat wave was felt strongly.

Over the past few days, Odisha too reeled under the heat wave. The industrial town of Jharsuguda recorded the highest temperature of 45.8 degrees and authorities received reports of 23 deaths due to sun stroke.

The mercury crossed 45 degrees at six places in western Odisha, IMD officials said.

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