Hot and humid conditions continued to affect life across West Bengal today with several places recording over 40 degrees Celsius and three persons reportedly succumbing in Burdwan and West Midnapore districts.
The heat-related deaths in the last few days in the state went up to six with reports about two persons dying in West Midnapore and a 45-year-old worker succumbing at a ferro-steel plant unit in Burdwan today.
Sheikh Rustam (45), who worked at a ferro-steel unit in Burdwan, was working in an open space inside the factory, when he complained of exhaustion at around 8.30 am and was taken to Burdwan Medical College Hospital, a hospital official said.
Rustam is believed to have died due to the heat conditions, the hospital source said.
In West Midnapore, two persons died this noon but the administration said the deaths were not confirmed to be sun stroke-related.
A rickshaw puller Niranjan Nayak fell ill at Mandir Chowk area of Midnapore town and was declared dead at hospital, SDO Amitabha Dutta said.
Dutta said he also heard about a man's death in Garbeta near local market but none of the deaths were stated to be triggered by sun stroke.
In Garbeta the deceased was identified as 54-year old Sanatan Modak who died on way to local market, a police officer in Garbeta police station said.
In the past two days, three deaths were reported in Kolkata (2) and Barrackpore in North 24 Parganas (1), taking the toll to six so far.
In Burdwan district, unconfirmed reports said there were two more deaths in past three days but the officials did not corroborate.
Normal life was hit throughout the state due to the heat wave conditions with Bankura recording the highest temperature at 42.1 degrees Celsius followed by Sriniketan in Birbhum district at 41.1 degrees Celsius.
The industrial town of Asansol in Burdwan district recorded 40.1 degrees Celsius followed by Burdwan 39.8, Baharampur 37.6 and Malda 33.6 degrees Celsius, an IMD report said.
The city recorded a maximum temperature of 37.3 degrees Celsius, a notch above normal while the minimum temperature was four degrees above normal at 30.2 degrees Celsius, sources said.
The maximum humidity recorded in the city was 75 per cent, the report said.
Meanwhile, latest RADAR observation indicated thundershower accompanied with squall and hail with maximum wind speed reaching between 50 and 60 kph could likely lash some parts of the districts of Murshidabad, Birbhum, Burdwan, Bankura and Hoogly this evening, IMD sources added.
