7 more heat deaths in T'gana, Odisha; 5 perish in Assam storm

Blazing heat stifled east, central and peninsular India today with Odisha and Telangana reporting seven more sunstrokes deaths even as a severe storm lashed parts of Assam killing at least five persons.
Bihar, Odisha, parts of Gangetic West Bengal, Telangana, Kerala and Jharkhand reeled under the scorching sun. The national capital had a hot day at 40 degrees. The minimum in the city was 21.7 degrees.
Bankura in West Bengal was the hottest in the country at 45.1 degrees Celsius. Asansol, Burdwan and Sriniketan in the state recorded respective maximums of 44.1, 42.2 and 43 deg C.
A severe storm hit parts of Assam last night, killing at least four persons in Tinsukia and Cachar districts. One person was killed in Dibrugarh district when lightning struck his house.

In Telangana, the sunstroke toll since the beginning of this summer has surged to 143 from 137, the State Disaster Management department said.
Taking serious note of heat-related deaths, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao ordered all district collectors to take necessary steps to prevent people from getting affected by intense heat wave.

IMD in a statement said day temperatures were appreciably above normal at a few places in the state. The highest maximum temperature of 44 deg Celsius was recorded at Badrachalam, Hanmakonda, Nalgonda and Ramagundam.
In Odisha, one more sunstroke death was reported from Sambalpur district, taking the toll due to heatwave to 10.

Angul, Baripada, Talcher, Bhawani Patna, Sonepur and Titlagarh braved the searing sun recording maximums in the 40-44 range, though thunderstorm brought some relief to residents in Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and parts of coast belt.
In Kerala, a 42-year-old man died of suspected sunstroke in Kottayam district. Seventy cases of sun burn and one death have been reported from the district even as the Kerala government has approached the Centre to declare the state as "drought hit".
Malampuzha in Palakaad district recorded the highest temperature at 41.5 degrees Celsius for the fourth consecutive day in the state, followed by Kannur and Kozikode at 38.5 degrees each.

In Bihar, Patna was the hottest at 44.3 degrees, followed closely by Gaya at 43.8 and Bhagalpur 43. The local MeT office similar weather conditions will prevail in the next two days.
In Jharkhand, steel hubs of Jamshedpur and Dumka had a high of 44.2 degrees. Ranchi, Palamau, Jamtara and Khunti also sizzled at 41, 43.3, 41 and 40 deg C, respectively.
Allahabad was the hottest in Uttar Pradesh at 44.3 deg C.
Meanwhile, IMD said heatwave conditions are likely to continue over several parts in central and east India till May 10.
The state witnessed light to moderate rains and

thundershowers at a few places while isolated areas of its eastern parts received heavy rains and thundershowers. Banda recorded a maximum temperature of 43.8 degrees Celsius, the highest in UP.
However, intense heatwave continued unabated in western Odisha, while in the coastal belt of the state the mercury dropped considerably following rainfall in some places.
The maximum temperature in Bhubaneswar dropped to 34.7 degrees Celsius from yesterday's 38.8 degrees Celsius, the MeT office said, adding the state capital received about 7.9 mm rains.
Rains lashed isolated parts of Bihar. Its capital Patna received 32.8 mm rainfall, while Gaya, recording a maximum temperature of 38 degrees Celsius, was the hottest place in the state.

The weatherman has forecast rain or thundershowers in most parts of West Bengal for the next two days as day temperatures remained normal or below average in the state today.
In the northeast, isolated places of Assam and Meghalaya are "very likely" to receive heavy rains in the next 24 hours, while Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Sikkim, may witness thunder squall.