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Toll 1,700 as heat wave continues in east India

The killer heat wave continued its rampage in the eastern belt bringing the death toll to 1,700 even as several parts of northern India witnessed a much-needed respite from the sweltering heat of the last 14 days.

However, the toll was stil expected to rise in the coming days with more reports of death pouring in from the rural areas of Orissa. While the intensity of the heat wave continued unabated in Orissa, Bihar, and northeast Uttar Pradesh, the northwest region had some respite with Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, and several parts of Rajasthan witnessed the mercury dip one to four degree below normal.

Almost 80 people died of the heat wave in the country during the last 24 hours, more than half of them in Orissa. While 14 persons in Uttar Pradesh succumbed to the heat spell, 19 people died in Bihar, and 5 in Rajasthan during the last 24 hours.

In Orissa, the heat wave has claimed 1,100 lives in Orissa till date, while the number of those killed in Rajasthan is 236, and Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar reported 40, 100, and 188 deaths respectively.

Although sources in Orissa said the number of deaths due to the heat wave sweeping the state for the past 10 days had declined during the past two days, more reports of death from the rural areas were pouring in at the various district headquarters.

In fact, the sources said the toll might exceed the present figure once the detailed information from all the affected blocks was available from the state control room.

Officials said Kalahandi, the drought-stricken district of Orissa, reported only eight deaths so far, while in Nuapada district, not a single death had been reported officially.

The five districts where officially no death had been reported so far were Koraput, Nawarangpur, Rayagada, Malkangiri, and Nuapada.

Till yesterday, no death had been reported from Jagatsinghpur district, but today the government claimed that 18 people had died of sunstroke there.

In Balasore, 29 deaths had been reported so far, while the toll in Nayagarh district had gone up to 36 till the afternoon.

The state government had directed the tahasildars in the blocks (a conglomeration of villages) to compile and submit the report on the sunstroke deaths in their respective areas.

As the heat wave toll in Orissa rises by the day, bodies are piling up at various crematoria. The resultant prohibitive price of fuel wood has prevented relatives of a large number of poor victims from arranging an honourable cremation for them.

The limited number of electric furnaces at various crematoria in the state have added to their misery.

A severe shortage of ice, especially in Bargarh, has not only affected those who survived the heatstroke but also hampered treatment of patients struck by the blistering heat.

To make matters worse, many areas in the state now face serious scarcity of several vegetables.

Tomato which was sold between Rs15 and Rs 20 a kg in Cuttack before the killer heat wave hit the coastal district a week ago, is now priced at Rs 60 a kg. Other principal vegetables like potato, parbal, and cucumber have also recorded abnormal hike in prices, putting them beyond the reach of the common man.

There has also been a sharp rise in the price of lemons even as the Orissa government claimed the state was self-sufficient in lemon production. With doctors recommending to panic-stricken people to take lemon juice to keep the body cool, the price of a lemon has increased to Rs 3 from just Re 1 two days ago in all the major city markets.

The heat wave also continued in Uttar Pradesh. Weathermen foresee no respite in the next two days. According to the meteorological department, the day temperature rose in the hill division of Kumaon while it fell marginally in the Varanasi, Lucknow, and Bareilly divisions.

Bundelkhand continues to be the hottest place in the plains of Uttar Pradesh. In Orai, the maximum temperature recorded was 46 degree celsius inthe last 24 hours, followed by Jhansi and Allahabad (45 degrees Celsius), Varanasi (44 degrees Celsius) Bareilly (43 degrees Celsius) and Bahraich (42 degrees Celsius).

The state capital of Lucknow recorded the maximum temperature of 43 degree Celsius during the last 24 hours.

A report from Hajipur in Bihar said today at least eight people died of heat wave in different parts of Vaishali district while two people died in Saran and Siwan districts each.

A Nawada report said one person died in blazing sun in the district yesterday while. Two people died of sunstroke in Muzaffarpur district today. A Giridhi report said that four people fell prey to heat wave in the district during the past 24 hours.

A report from Bhopal said as many as 40 people have died due to sun stroke in Madhya Pradesh during this summer. Most of the deaths were reported from northern region of the state.

Heat wave conditions continued to prevail in Bastar, Raipur, Bilaspur, Jabalpur, and Indore divisions. The highest day temperature of 47 degree Celsius was recorded at Khajuraho, Mana airport at Raipur and at Narsinghpur.

In Rajasthan, the prolonged heat wave sweeping the state since May 13, has abated from most parts of the state barring some places like Dholpur, Kota, and Jhalawar.

A report from Kota said that two people died of intense heat in Bundi district and one in Baran district of Kota division during the last 24 hours taking the toll in this heat wave in that division up to 41.

Weather office sources said that Dholpur, Kota, and Jhalawar recorded maximum temperature of 45 degree celsius yesterday evening.

The northwest region also had some respite from the heat wave today as the mercury scaled down one to four degrees below normal at some places in the region during the past 24 hours. The fall in temperature in the region was due to western disturbances.

The maximum temperature at Hisar in Haryana, which remained the hottest place in the region during the past few days, was recorded one degree above normal at 42.6 degrees.

Punjab also had a respite from the heat wave today as the mercury scaled down four degrees below normal to mark 38 degrees Celsius in Ludhiana and three degrees below normal at Patiala to record 38.4 degrees Celsius. Amritsar recorded the highest temperature of 40.3 degrees Celsius.

In West Bengal, despite a marginal drop in mercury today, citydwellers experienced sweltering heat conditions.

The suffering was compunded by dismal power supply following breakdown of one of the units of CESC Limited yesterday.

In a tragic incident, a bridegroom died within an hour of his marriage due to sunstoke at a village in Nevasa subdistrict, Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra.

About four days prior to the wedding, the bridegroom, Arjun Lande, 30, went around distributing invitation cards to friends and relatives in the heat. He complained of ill-health on the wedding day itself and collapsed soon after the ceremony.

Lande was admitted to the Ahmednagar hospital, but died before medical treatment could be administered.

The heat wave sweeping through North Maharashtra last month especially Jalgaon city and district, including Nashik, Dhule, and Ahmednagar has claimed 27 lives.

UNI

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