IANS
Delhi, MAY 29
The blistering heat wave continued Friday in parts of India, claiming more lives in the worst-hit Andhra Pradesh and Telangana - where the unconfirmed death toll has been placed at over 1,800 - but sporadic rains provided some respite. Rain in parts of Hyderabad and cloudy weather provided some relief to people in the capital city reeling under an intense heat for over a week.
Isolated rain in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions also brought down the temperature at a few places but heat wave conditions continued relentless in the state.
According to unofficial sources, 25 people succumbed to sunstroke in Telangana while 15 more died in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.
Once confirmed by officials, this will take the toll in the two states to over 1,800.
The officials till Thursday night had confirmed 1,774 deaths. While Andhra Pradesh accounted for 1,334 deaths, 440 people died in Telangana.
The Hyderabad Meteorological Centre has warned that the heat wave conditions may continue for 24 hours till Saturday evening. It also forecast rains in few parts of both the states, raising the hopes of relief from the blistering heat wave, the worst in decades.
The maximum temperatures in Andhra and Telangana were three to six degrees above average.
Jangamaheshwarapuram in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh was the hottest place at 47 degrees Celsius.
In Telangana, Khammam and Nalgonda sizzled at 46 degrees and Ramagundam recorded 45 dgrees.
The intense heatwave continued unabated in Odisha on Friday with Bhabanipatna town recording a maximum temperature of 45.5 degrees Celsius, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) in Bhubaneswar said.
The state government put the number of deaths in the heatwave this season at 17.
Bhabanipatna town in Kalahandi district recorded the maximum temperature of 45.5 degrees Celsius, the department said in a bulletin, adding that Bolangir and Titlagarh registered 45 degrees Celsius.
Bhubaneswar, the capital city, recorded 39.7 degrees Celsius, it added.
The scorching heat in Chhattisgarh claimed two lives. They died of intense heat while travelling by bus.
Uttar Pradesh continued to reel under a heatwave. There is no respite in sight from the unprecedented heatwave sweeping the state, the Met Office said on Friday.
Officials said that the heatwave will not relent for the next few days and the hotwind blowing in most parts of the state will get more intense.
The day temperatures which had ebbed a little in the past three days climbed once again on Thursday in Lucknow with the maximum temperature being recorded at 42.7 degrees Celsius, which is two degrees higher than the average.
The highest temperature recorded in the state on Thursday was at Allahabad where the mercury touched 45.7 degrees Celsius followed by Jhansi (45.3 degrees).
Haryana's Hisar was the hottest in the region at 44 degrees Celsius as heat wave conditions intensified over most parts of Punjab and Haryana on Friday.
The temperature in most places ranged between 42 and 44 degrees, a rise by one or two notches from Thursday, a Met official said here. Bhiwani recorded a high of 44 degrees, while Ambala was sizzling at 42 degrees.
In Punjab, Patiala, the Sikh holy city of Amritsar and industrial hub Ludhiana were the hottest at 42 degrees each. All were five degrees above average.
Chandigarh, at a high of 42 degrees, was three degrees above average.
The official said the heatwave conditions would continue.
The maximum temperature in the hills in Himachal Pradesh declined marginally on Friday, giving some relief from the scorching heat wave, an weatherman said.
The met department said there could be light rain or thundershowers in some parts of the state till June 1.
"Most of the towns saw a fall of the maximum temperature by one to one degrees. In the next few days it will decline further," Manmohan Singh, director of the meteorological office here, told IANS.
He said Shimla's maximum temperature was still four notches above the average. It saw a high of 27.5 degrees Celsius, a fall from Thursday's 28.5 degrees.
Slight relief was experienced in the heat wave conditions in certain parts of Maharashtra's Vidarbha and Marathwada regions though high temperatures continued to scorch most areas on Friday.
For the first time in a week, the highest temperatures in the state stood at 46 degrees Celsius (down from the high of 47 degrees this entire week), recorded Friday in Nagpur, Wardha and Chandrapur, though there are no officially recorded heat wave casualties in the state so far.
Akola recorded 45 degrees while Parbhani recorded 44 degrees - a degree lesser than Thursday - while while Yavatmal also stood at 44 degrees.
It was a hot and humid Friday in Kolkata and across West Bengal, forcing residents to opt for cool summer drinks and indoor activities. In Kolkata, the maximum temperature hovered around 36 degrees Celsius. The humidity levels soared to 85 percent in the morning and it was around 58 percent later in the day, the Met Office said.
Heat wave conditions continue to affect normal life in the desert state of Rajasthan, with the mercury hovering between 40-45 degrees Celsius in most parts of the state. The highest maximum temperature of 44.6 degrees Celsius was recorded at Kota in the state.
Though evenings are usually pleasant in the desert state, the minimum temperatures have been above normal this season.
