Searing heat continues across country

Mercury rises: Another casualty as officer on election duty dies of sunstroke in WB

 Searing heat continued across the country with mercury crossing 40 degrees Celsius even as an officer on election duty died of sunstroke in West Bengal on Thursday.

Temperature, however, dropped marginally in Delhi and some other parts of northern region in the wake of a fresh western disturbance with the weatherman predicting overcast conditions and possibility of duststorm and thunderstorm for Friday.

The maximum temperature in Delhi was recorded at 38.6 degrees Celsius, down from Wednesday’s 39.6 and a notch above the normal, while the minimum settled at 25.8 degrees Celsius.

“The drop in temperature is because of a Western disturbance prevailing for the last three days due to which there is a cloud cover over the plains and hilly regions have received showers,” said Indian Meteorological Department Director B P Yadav.

In the eastern states of West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha, heat wave swept in most areas affecting normal life.

Heatwave claimed the life of a block-level officer maintaining the queue outside a polling station in Mangalkot in Burdwan district, where the third phase of Assembly election was held on Thursday.

Rabindranath Ghosh (40) died after suffering a sunstroke as he was standing in the open for long hours, Election Commission (EC) officials said. Burdwan district is reeling under heatwave and Asansol town recorded a temperature of 44 degrees Celsius during the day, an IMD official said.

Mercury was soaring in Odisha with Titlagarh sizzling at 47 degrees Celsius, followed by Sonepur 46.2, Hirakud and Talcher 45.6, Jharsuguda 45.3 and Angul at 45.1 degrees Celsius.

The maximum in Sundergarh, Bhawanipatna and Bolangir settled at 45 degrees Celsius. The state capital of Bhubaneswar experienced a hot day at 40.3 degrees Celsius. Reports of 66 deaths due to sunstroke have been received from different sources, according to a release issued by the Special Relief Commissioner’s (SRC) office. On inquiry, death in one case was confirmed to be due to sunstroke, it said. 

“In 17 cases, the deaths have been found to have occurred due to other reasons. The remaining 48 cases are  under inquiry,” SRC P K Mohapatra said. Heatwave conditions also prevailed in Jharkhand where Jamshedpur sweltered under 45.6 degrees Celsius. Ranchi, the erstwhile summer capital of Bihar, recorded 41.2 degrees Celsius.

No respite in Bihar

Bihar continues to sizzle under the blistering heat as most of the districts recorded temperatures ranging between 42-44 degrees Celsius in the last few days, DHNS reports from Patna.

The soaring mercury levels registered so far are the highest in the month of April since 1980.

The state capital recorded 43 degrees Celsius, whereas Gaya was the hottest district with 44 degrees Celsius. The Met Department has predicted that there will be no let up in the heat wave condition for the next two-three days.

In fact, in lieu of unrelenting heat wave condition, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a heat wave alert. “The abnormally high temperature in April could be attributed to the prevailing El Nino. Besides, the absence of pre-monsoon showers and absence of norwesterlies have further compounded the problem,” said an IMD official. Meanwhile, main roads in Patna as well as major towns wore a deserted look on Thursday afternoon. However, parents were a bit relieved after the district administration revised the school timing making it mandatory for educational institutions for primary children to close down by 11 am.

Heatwave intensifies in UP

Heat wave conditions intensified in Uttar Pradesh with the mercury levels continuing to hover around 44-45 degrees at many places on Thursday, DHNS reports from Lucknow.

According to the official sources here, Allahabad, with 45.3 degrees, remained the hottest place in the state. Maximum temperature in Gorakhpur also remained high at 43 degrees. The situation was no better in the arid Bundelkhand region where the mercury remained above 43 degrees at several places.