Heatwave sweeps northwest India, 3 more deaths in Jharkhand

New Delhi, May 3 (UNI) Heat wave conditions continued to persist in major parts of the country with three more deaths due to scorching heat reported in Jharkhand, taking the nationwide death toll to 33.

Twelve people have died due to scorching heat in Uttar Pradesh, seven in West Bengal, four in Maharashtra, three in Gujarat and six in Jharkhand and one in Punjab.

In northwest India, Hissar in Haryana experienced the hottest day of the season with the mercury soaring to 46.2 degrees, seven degrees above normal.

Elsewhere in Haryana, the mercury hovered four degrees to five degrees above normal with Ambala and Karnal, recording the maximum temperature at 42.6 degrees and 42.0 degrees celsius respectively.

The maximum temperature stayed above 42 degrees at many places in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, making the people groan under intense heat wave conditions.

People groaned under a severe heat wave in Punjab where the mercury soared to 44.6 degrees, eight degrees above normal, at Amritsar, turning it the hottest place in the state.

Ludhiana recorded 43.4 degrees and Patiala 43.2 which were five degrees and four degrees above normal respectively.

Chandigarh recorded a maximum temperature at 42.6 degrees, six degrees above normal.

In Uttar Pradesh, Varanasi was the hottest with 44 degrees, whereas Allahabad was at 42.5 degrees C, Kanpur 41.4, Bareilly 41, Bahraich 40.4, Gorakhpur 39.9 and Lucknow was at 41.4 degrees.

The heat wave conditions also prevailed in lower areas of Himachal Pradesh with Una recording the maximum temperature at 42.2 degrees.

The maximum temperature stayed above normal by seven degrees at Bhuntar, six degrees at Shimla and Mandi and five degrees at Dharamsala, recording 35.8, 28.1, 39.0 and 34.4 degrees respectively.

Delhi continued to sizzle at 42.6 degrees, four degrees above normal and the minimum also soared to 27.5 degrees, three degrees above normal.

In Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, district Public Relations Officer of West Singhbhum district Prakash Tirkey died of heatwave at Chaibasa while another person was found dead here in the past 24 hours as mercury shot up to 43.8 degrees in the Kolhan region.

Another unidentified person was found dead at Jugsalai area here, police said.

Severe heatwave condition preveiled in many parts of Orissa with maximum day temperature shooting up to around 44 degrees.

In Maharashtra, heat wave conditions continued to persist in the North Maharashtra district of Jalgaon with the maximum temperature recorded at around 42 degrees, while in Bhusawal town it was 41.2 degrees, according to official sources.

The death toll due to sun-strokes still stood static at four, civil hospital sources said.

In Andhra Pradesh, the maximum temperatures rose over Coastal area but fell at a few Places over Telangana and at one or two places over Rayalaseema.

Chennai and several other parts of Tamil Nadu entered the hottest period of the summer season with the onset of 'kathri', marking the arrival of dog days. The temperatures touched 41.8 degress in Nungambakkam and 42 degrees at suburban Meenambakkam.

Rain or thundershowers are likely to occur at many places in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim and at a few places in Gangetic West Bengal and at isolated places in Orissa, Jharkhand and Bihar.

Rain or thundershowers had occurred at most places in Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura. They also occurred at many places in Assam, Meghalaya and at a few places in Arunachal Pradesh, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim and Andaman and Nicobar.

They also occurred at isolated places in Gangetic west Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, south interior Karnataka and Kerala.

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