Orissa, Telangana in grip of severe heatwave, 65 dead

A heatwave is wreaking havoc in Telangana and Orissa this season, claiming dozens of lives even as most parts of the country sweltered under the blazing sun on Thursday. According to some reports, as many as 110 people have died so far in the heatwave in the two states. Officials numbers, however, claimed that the deaths in Telangana so far are 35 while in Orissa 30.

In the national capital, it was a hot day with the mercury soaring up to 41 degrees Celsius, four notches above normal for this time of the year. “The maximum temperature was recorded at 41 degrees Celsius, four notches above normal while the minimum settled at 24 degrees Celsius, three notches above the season’s average,” a Met official said while at the same time predicting that night temperatures for the next week will be higher than normal.

“Temperatures have been above the 40-degree mark at several places. For instance, Titlagarh in Orissa recorded its maximum at 45.5 degrees Celsius, and Nalgonda in Andhra Pradesh sizzled at 44 degrees Celsius. Also, Hyderabad observed its maximum at 43 degrees Celsius which is the highest in 43 years,” said private weather forecasting agency Skymet.

The heatwave continued to sweep across Orissa, with the mercury crossing the 45-degree mark in some places. Though the mercury level declined in the coastal belt, including Bhubaneswar which recorded 40.2 degrees Celsius, the entire western region of the state was on the boil. Though the unofficial death toll due to sunstroke remained at 30, special relief commissioner P.K. Mohapatra said: “Of the total 30 alleged heatwave-related death reports received by the government, five were examined by the district collectors and they found the reason of deaths to be sunstroke.”

Heatwave conditions also prevailed in the districts of south Bengal as the Met department forecast similar condition for the next two days.

Bankura district recorded 43.6 degrees Celsius, the day’s highest temperature in West Bengal, while Kolkata was a notch lower than Wednesday at 40 degrees.