Monday 18 / November / 2024
New Delhi: Blazing heat stifled east, central and peninsular India on Friday with Odisha and Telangana reporting seven more sunstrokes deaths even as a severe storm lashed parts of Assam killing at least five persons.
Bihar, Odisha, parts of Gangetic West Bengal, Telangana, Kerala and Jharkhand reeled under the scorching sun. The national capital had a hot day at 40 degrees.
The minimum in the city was 21.7 degrees. Bankura in West Bengal was the hottest in the country at 45.1 degrees Celsius. Asansol, Burdwan and Sriniketan in the state recorded respective maximums of 44.1, 42.2 and 43 degree Celsius.
A severe storm hit parts of Assam on Thursday night, killing at least four persons in Tinsukia and Cachar districts. One person was killed in Dibrugarh district when lightning struck his house. In Telangana, the sunstroke toll since the beginning of this summer has surged to 143 from 137, the State Disaster Management department said.
Taking serious note of heat-related deaths, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao ordered all district collectors to take necessary steps to prevent people from getting affected by intense heat wave.
India Meteorological Department in a statement said day temperatures were appreciably above normal at a few places in the state. The highest maximum temperature of 44 degrees Celsius was recorded at Badrachalam, Hanmakonda, Nalgonda and Ramagundam.
In Odisha, one more sunstroke death was reported from Sambalpur district, taking the toll due to heatwave to 10. Angul, Baripada, Talcher, Bhawani Patna, Sonepur and Titlagarh braved the searing sun recording maximums in the 40-44 range, though thunderstorm brought some relief to residents in Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and parts of coast belt.
In Kerala, a 42-year-old man died of suspected sunstroke in Kottayam district. Seventy cases of sun burn and one death have been reported from the district even as the Kerala government has approached the Centre to declare the state as "drought hit".
Malampuzha in Palakaad district recorded the highest temperature at 41.5 degrees Celsius for the fourth consecutive day in the state, followed by Kannur and Kozikode at 38.5 degrees each.
In Bihar, Patna was the hottest at 44.3 degrees, followed closely by Gaya at 43.8 and Bhagalpur 43. The local MeT office similar weather conditions will prevail in the next two days. In Jharkhand, steel hubs of Jamshedpur and Dumka had a high of 44.2 degrees. Ranchi, Palamau, Jamtara and Khunti also sizzled at 41, 43.3, 41 and 40 degrees Celsius, respectively. Allahabad was the hottest in Uttar Pradesh at 44.3 deg C. Meanwhile, IMD said heatwave conditions are likely to continue over several parts in central and east India till May 10. "Heatwave conditions are likely to continue over parts of Gangetic West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, east Madhya Pradesh, north Chhattisgarh and Vidarbha for the next 15 days (from April 26). Night minimum temperatures are likely to remain within the normal range outside western Himalayan region," IMD said in a forecast.
