Sun god shows no mercy; Heatwave claims 50 more lives

New Delhi, Jun 11 (UNI) In the absence of the monsoon, the heatwave continued to wreak havoc over north and central India as it killed 14 people in Haryana, 13 in Uttar Pradesh, nine each in Madhya Pradesh and Delhi and five in Punjab during the last 24 hours.

According to reports, three people each died due to the heatwave in Agra and Kaushambi district, while two died at Mahoba. Lucknow, Unnao, Ferozabad, Pratapgarh and Etah disticts accounted for one casualty each.

People of UP might get some respite from the wilting heatwave as the monsoon is expected to hit the parched state in the next 3-4 days.

However, the mercury had decreased considerably since yesterday following sporadic pre-monsoon showers in some parts of UP.

State Meteorological Centre Director K P Kulshrestha said the monsoon had already reached Purnea in Bihar.

Banda was the hottest at 45.5 degrees, three notches above normal while Allahabad wilted at 40.9 and Lucknow at 38.4 degrees (-4).

Meanwhile, the weatherman forecast rain or thundershowers in the next 24 hours in Moradabad, Bareilly, Meerut, Lucknow, Faizabad and Gorakhpur divisions.

Five people died of heatstroke in Punjab while 14 succumbed to intense heat in Haryana as scorching heatwave continued to sweep north-west India.

Hot surface winds...pick up from line one of para 11 of DI46-WEATHER ROUNDUP UNI