Heat wave conditions, which have seen over 500 people losing their lives since April due to heatstroke, continued across India Tuesday, an official said.
According to the Department of Disaster Management, 524 people have died of sunstroke since April 1 across the country. However, unofficial sources have put the toll at over 600 during last four days itself.
After a cloudy and windy Monday, it was back to being scorching hot in the capital Tuesday as the maximum temperature settled three notches above average at 43 degrees Celsius. The Met office has forecast similar weather Wednesday.
"The heat wave will continue tomorrow (Wednesday) the skies will be sunny," an official of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to hover around 43 and 28 degrees respectively. Tuesday's minimum temperature was 29 degrees Celsius, two notches above average for this time of the season.
Monday's maximum temperature in Delhi was 42.6 degrees Celsius, two notches above average, while the minimum settled at 30.2 degrees Celsius, three notches above average.
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Heat wave conditions continued to prevail in the desert state of Rajasthan with the mercury Tuesday hovering between 40 to 45 degrees celsius.
Churu at 45.2 degrees Celsius was the hottest in the state and Sri Ganganagar was also close at 44.4 degrees celsius.
State capital Jaipur was scorching at 41.9 degrees and the minimum temperature was at 32.4 degrees Celsius, almost five degrees above normal. Bikaner was also hot at 41.9 degrees Celsius.
The heat wave continued to roast Uttar Pradesh Tuesday with the mercury soaring to 45 degrees Celsius in some parts of the state
Most people stayed indoors as humidity and long hours of power outages and cuts added to people's woes.
Etawah remained the hottest place in Uttar Pradesh at 46.2 degrees Celsius, four degrees above the normal temperature for this time of the season. Banda recorded 45.2 degrees Celsius, Hamirpur 45.2 degrees, Agra 43.3 degrees, and Allahabad 45.5 degrees, making these the hottest cities in the state.
The temperature in Lucknow hovered around 44 degrees Celsius, a meteorological department official told IANS.
There was no likelihood of any respite from the heat nor any chances of rain in Uttar Pradesh, the official added.
Rainfall in parts of Andhra Pradesh provided much-needed relief to people from the intense heat that has kept the southern plateau sizzling for weeks and claimed over 500 lives across the country.
Several parts of Srikakulam district in north coastal Andhra Pradesh and some parts of East Godavari, West Godavari, Guntur and other districts of south coastal Andhra received rains Tuesday.
The sky remained cloudy in most parts of Telangana and Rayalaseema regions, officials said. Rains or thundershowers are likely in a few places in the state during the next 24 hours.