Soaring mercury coupled with high-speed hot winds wrecked havoc in parts of Uttar Pradesh with fire at several places killing at least 23 people, in the past 48 hours. Over two thousand houses and wheat crops on hundreds of acres of land  were reportedly gutted and among those who killed include women and children.

Thousands of houses  in Faizabad, Sultanpur, Gorakhpur, Basti, Lakhimpur-Kheri and Mainpuri districts were destroyed in the fire, official sources here said on Tuesday.

While 12 people were killed in the Gorakhpur and Basti divisions, 11 others died of burn injuries in Mainpuri and Sultanpur.

According to an estimate wheat crop worth lakhs of rupees had so far been destroyed in the fire across the state.

The fire department was caught napping as high speed winds spread the fire within no time while scarcity of water added to the woes of the people.

The state weather office said that the wind speed was between 15 to 25 knots at many places on Monday, and it was the highest this summer.

State director general of police Vikram Singh has directed the fire department to be well-prepared to deal with the incidence of fire which are common during the summers in the state.

Minister of state for steel and mines Jitin Prasad has written to the state government for providing all possible help to the victims of fire. The authorities have provided compensation at some places.

Fire department sources admitted that it did not have adequate number of tenders to fight the fires in remote and rural areas.

Meanwhile, mercury soared to above 43 degrees in the state forcing people to remain indoors. Varanasi at 43.2 degree remained the hottest place in the state.