Heat wave: 223 dead in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana; Delhi records hottest day

As many as 223 people in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana succumbed to the blazing heatwave sweeping the country even as the blistering sun today continued to drive the mercury upwards with Delhi recording its hottest day of this season. While 128 persons have died in Telangana, the toll increased to 95 in Andhra Pradesh, where 15 more persons succumbed to the heatwave, senior officials said.

The toll for AP is for the period from May 18 till this evening while the figures for Telangana cover the duration since April 15 till today. One person was said to have fallen prey to the heatwave in West Bengal, where several places today recorded temperatures of over 40 degrees Celsius. Two deaths due to the heat were reported yesterday in Barrackpore and state capital Kolkata.

Delhiites today struggled to cope with the excruciating heat as the maximum hit this summer's highest at 44.5 degrees Celsius, five notches above the normal. Amidst the infernal heat, the weatherman, however, hinted at the likelihood of some relief in the form of dust storms or thunderstorms tomorrow across northern India. Although the Safdarjang weather station, which provides the official reading for Delhi, gave a sub-45 degree figure, the Palam weather station in the national capital recorded the mercury at 46.2 degrees. The maximum in Delhi yesterday was at 43.6 degrees.

The minimum today settled at 29.3 degrees, three notches above the season's average, while humidity in air oscillated between 17-40% on a dry day. Weather officials, meanwhile, said that relief was on the cards as dust storms and thunderstorms are likely to occur tomorrow in some parts of Delhi.

Down south, severe heatwave prevailed over parts of Adilabad, Warangal, Hyderabad, Khammam, Mahabubnagar, Nalgonda, Nizamabad and Karimnagar districts of Telangana.
AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said, "We have around 100 deaths. More figures are coming. We are taking all precautions on how to minimise deaths." 

The heatwave also intensified in Odisha as the mercury inched above the 40-degree mark at 19 places in the state while three more deaths due to the sweltering conditions were reported today, taking the toll to 26, said the office of the special relief commissioner. Titlagarh recorded the highest maximum in the state at 46.2 degrees while Jharsuguda and Bhawanipatna recorded highs of 46 degrees. The Odisha state capital of Bhubaneswar sizzled at 42.7 degrees.

Back in the northern plains, Uttar Pradesh saw the mercury cross the 41 degree mark in most of the districts. Allahabad recorded the highest maximum in the state at 47 degrees, which was five notches above the normal, followed by Banda at 46.6 degrees, Varanasi (45.8 degrees) and Sultanpur (45.6 degrees).

UP capital Lucknow saw the maximum touch 44.4 degrees even as weather officials forecast rain/thundershowers at isolated places along with dust storms and thunderstorms accompanied by squalls tomorrow at other areas of the state.

The two neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana, too, reeled under the heatwave. Bhiwani in Haryana witnessed a high of 45.2 degrees, four notches higher than the normal, while Hisar saw the maximum go up to 44.7 degrees.

The Union Territory of Chandigarh, which was hit by a dust storm this evening, recorded the season's hottest day so far at 43.4 degrees.

In Punjab, Amritsar saw the mercury settle five notches above the normal at 43.6 degrees while Ludhiana sweat it out at 43.5 degrees.

The MeT office has forecast dust storm/thunderstorm accompanied with squalls at wind speeds exceeding 45-kmph at isolated places in Haryana and Punjab over the next two days.

The desert state of Rajasthan saw Jaisalmer recording the highest maximum at 46.5 degrees followed by Kota with a high of 45.4 degrees as heat wave conditions prevailed at a few places in the Kota and Bikaner divisions and in isolated areas of Jodhpur division.

The heat wave conditions are likely to continue in isolated pockets of Rajasthan even as a thunderstorm is likely at some places in the state in the next 24 hours, the MeT office said.

There was slight respite from the heatwave in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra as the temperatures dropped in several areas even though Chandrapur recorded a high of 47 degrees. Chandrapur had yesterday recorded a maximum of 47.6 degrees.

Nagpur, which had recorded a high of 47 degrees for two consecutive days earlier this week, today saw the mercury settle at 45.1 degrees.