Heat wave kills two in UP, power cuts hit people hard

Banda in Uttar Pradesh recorded 47 degrees Celsius.

Lucknow, May 16: Two persons have died owing to the scalding heat wave across Uttar Pradesh. There will be no respite in the coming days, the weatherman said on Tuesday.

The mercury is rising both during day and night. Warm winds 'loo' blowing across the state was adding to the woes.

According to officials, 65-year-old Malti Devi died in Mundera, while Omveer of village Gadhiya Sheelam in Etah also passed away due to a heat stroke.

Banda remained the hottest district in the past 24-hours, the maximum temperature recorded was 47 degrees Celsius.

The maximum temperature was 43.3 degrees Celsius, which is three degrees above normal, Allahabad logged 46.3 degrees Celsius, Jhansi 45.1 and Agra 44.6 degrees Celsius.

The heat wave continued unabated in Poorvanchal and Bundelkhand where temperatures have peaked over the past one week.

Sonebhadra recorded 44.6 degrees Celsius while Mirzapur was very hot at 44.9 degrees Celsius.

Monday's temperature recorded across the state has shattered past records set during the month of May, the Met official said.

The present weather conditions were likely to continue in most parts of the state, though Muzaffarnagar, Meerut and Saharanpur would have cloudy conditions owing to a westerly disturbance over Pakistan, the Regional Met office said.

Some areas might get light drizzle as well.

Power cuts during heat waves hit people hard

Though the state government and the Power Minister Shrikant Sharma had claimed 24x7 power supply in the state's cities and 18 hours in smaller towns. But the power cuts in most places are extending for more than four-five hours.

Angry residents in Telibagh and Southcity areas barged into a substation late on Sunday night to protest long duration of unscheduled power cuts. In Hariharnagar too, the power cuts have increased and so is the case in Indiranagar, Aliganj.

Power cuts last close to six hours on an average and power supply officials blame it on overloading, local faults. Ashutosh Kumar, chief engineer of Lucknow Electricity Supply Administration informed that the power demand has peaked by 25 per cent in the last few days.

He, however, assured that the supply would be normalized soon.

OneIndia News ( With IANS inputs).