At least 51 more sunstroke casualties were reported today in Telangana and Kerala as the heat wave continued to sweep several parts of the country with Banda in Uttar Pradesh scorching at 47.2 degrees Celsius.
Mercury remained on the higher side in Odisha too where 11 more people are suspected to have died of heat stroke. 14 deaths have been confirmed till now in the eastern state with Talcher again sizzling at 44.6 degrees Celsius.
Heatwave conditions in some parts of Telangana continued to take the toll as the number of deaths rose to 219 during this summer, according to the State Disaster Management department.
"These 219 deaths were confirmed by the three-member committee. Nalgonda tops the list with 76 deaths followed by Mahbubnagar with 35," an official in the Disaster Management control room said. The count yesterday stood at 178.
Kerala's Palakkad district continued to sizzle at 40.4 degrees Celsius as heat wave conditions prevailed in many parts of the state with 10 persons dying due to sunstroke over the past few days.
"Ten persons have died so far due to sunstroke," director of health services Dr R Ramesh said.
Temperatures continued to soar in Uttar Pradesh too with mercury level touching 47.2 degrees in Banda.
What may come as a relief, several parts of the country are likely to get some respite from severe heat wave as the MeT department has predicted scattered pre-monsoon showers over the next two days.
Allahabad and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh registered temperature on the higher side too at 44.8 degrees Celsius and 42 degrees Celsius respectively, while Hyderabad posted 41 degrees Celsius.
In the west Ahmedabad posted 42.1 degrees Celsius while in the east Bhubaneswar registered 40.8 degrees Celsius with a relative humidity level of 90 per cent.
Fifteen places in Odisha posted temperature above 40 degrees Celsius.
Overcast conditions and mercury dropping to 39.6 degrees Celsius today provided respite to Delhiites, a day after the national capital recorded the hottest day of the season at 44 degrees Celsius.
In Rajasthan, day temperatures dipped marginally
after light rainfall in isolated areas, even as heat wave conditions prevailed in other parts of the state, with Churu recording the highest temperature at 43.7 degrees Celsius.
It was followed by Kota with day temperatures touching 43 degrees Celsius there.
In Punjab and Haryana, duststorm hit many places, bringing mercury down by a few notches, and relief to the people from sweltering heat.
Capital city Chandigarh was also hit by duststorm in the morning. The maximum temperature, which had hovered close to 43 degrees Celsius here yesterday, also dropped by a few notches.
In West Bengal, Bankura recorded the highest temperature at 38.3 degrees Celsius while Kolkata saw 36.3 degrees Celsius.
In Jharkhand, some areas were lashed by rains after a hailstorm though temperatures elsewhere remained high today.
Chaibasa recorded maximum temperature of 44 degrees Celsius, while the temperature at Palamau, which recorded a high of 45 degrees Celsius yesterday, fell marginally to 43.6 degrees Celsius during the day, met office said here.
In Bihar, capital Patna witnessed a relatively pleasant weather with 36 degrees Celsius.
