Death Toll At 47 In India Heat Wave

WEATHER REPORT

An Indian woman uses an umbrella to protect herself from the heat as she rides on a cart in Rae Bareli district, 07 May 2006. Temperatures across northern India continued to rise with highest recorded 48 degrees Celscius its hottest temperature of the summer so far. Temperatures hovered above normal in states such as Bihar, Haryana and Punjab, the weather office reported, warning the sweltering conditions could continue until the onset of the annual monsoon rains due at the end of June. Scores of cities and towns are also facing massive water shortages and prolonged power cuts, triggering attacks on those running the overwhelmed state-run utilities. Photo courtesy of Manpreet Romana and AFP.

by Staff Writers
Lucknow (AFP) May 08, 2006
The death toll from a heat wave in India reached 47 on Sunday, as soaring temperatures hit several regions across the country, officials said. "Five people died in the heat wave in the last 24 hours, taking the toll in the state to 19," police official Manish Awasthi told AFP from the northern Uttar Pradesh state capital Lucknow.

In eastern Orissa, 27 people died of heat-related problems over the weekend. One death was reported in the holy city of Amritsar in Punjab state.

Soaring temperatures are common in May in India ahead of the onset of the crucial southwest monsoon rains that normally sweep the subcontinent from June to September.

In the tourist town of Agra in Uttar Pradesh, home to the Taj Mahal monument, the mercury shot up to 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit), four degrees above normal.

Scores of cities and towns in India are facing water shortages and prolonged power cuts, triggering a spate of attacks on those running the overwhelmed state-run utilities.

In New Delhi, reeling due to severe electricity cuts, the temperature climbed to 44.5 degrees Celsius.

Source: Agence France-Presse

related report

Sunstroke kills 33 as India blisters in heat wave

NEW DELHI (AFP) May 08 - At least 27 people have died of sunstroke in India's eastern Orissa state, a state official said, taking the heat-related death toll in India to 33 as temperatures soared Saturday.

"We are in a position to confirm 27 deaths at the moment," Manmohan Samal, the state's revenue minister, told AFP Saturday.

Orissa officials said the actual death toll could be as high as 38 since the onset of the hot weather mid-April, with daytime temperatures in the state hovering at 42 degrees Celsius (108 degrees Fahrenheit).

Sunstroke killed five people overnight in northern Uttar Pradesh state, where the temperature in the crowded city of Jhansi hit 46 degrees Celsius (114.8 degrees Fahrenheit) on Friday, the Press Trust of India said.

A vagrant also died of heat stroke last month in the Sikh holy city of Amritsar.

The northern desert city of Rajasthan sizzled with temperatures soaring to a scorching 48 degrees Celsius (118.4 degrees Fahrenheit) in the garrison town of Ganganagar.

Temperatures hovered above normal in states such as Bihar, Haryana and Punjab, the weather office reported, warning the sweltering conditions could continue until the onset of the annual monsoon rains due at the end of June.

Scores of cities and towns are also facing water shortages and prolonged power cuts, triggering a spate of attacks on those running the overwhelmed state-run utilities.

Source: Agence France-Presse

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Cape Canaveral Air Force Station FL (SPX) May 02, 2006
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