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120 die in unrelenting heatwave across India
Fifty-eight people died in eastern Orissa, the state worst-affected by the heatwave, VN Sahu, an official at the emergency control room in state capital Bhubaneshwar said on the telephone. In northern Uttar Pradesh state, 30 people have died of sunstroke, the Deccan Herald newspaper reported. Heat-related deaths have been reported since last month. The monsoon rains, which usually hit eastern and northern India by the second week of June, were yet to arrive. Temperatures of more than 40 degrees Celsius were recorded in large swathes of northern, central and eastern India over the past week. In the national capital New Delhi, daytime temperatures were hovering at 43 degrees Celsius in recent days, with weather officials forecasting no respite. The highest temperature recorded in Orissa was in the Sambalpur region where the mercury touched 46.2 degrees Celsius. Meanwhile, 17 people have died since Monday in the eastern state of Jharkhand, which is reeling under scorching heat. In the neighbouring Bihar state, seven people died from heatstroke. Eight people died in the coastal district of Vishakapatnam in southern Andhra Pradesh which has also been in the grip of a heatwave over the past few weeks, media outlets reported. Posted by: Steve White 2009-06-26 |
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