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Death toll in heat wave crosses 1,300; 900 die in Orissa alone

More than 1,300 people -- over 900 of them in Orissa -- have so far died due to the intense heat wave sweeping various parts of the country.

While the south west monsoon which arrived in Kerala on Tuesday was weak during the last 24 hours, there was no respite from the heat in Orissa and Tamil Nadu.

Reports from Orissa said the killer heat has so far claimed over 900 lives, while 2,000 people are battling for their lives in various hospitals in the state. Eight people died of sun stroke in Sambalpur last night; the town experienced its hottest day in the last century, with the mercury touching the 47.4 degree Celsius mark.

The killer heat wave has all but brought life in the state to a standstill with the mercury fluctuating between 40 and 47 degrees C.

While Western Orissa accounted for 430 deaths (154 of them in Sambalpur alone), the heat claimed 200 and 116 deaths in the coastal areas of Cuttack and Dhenkanal respectively.

Jharsuguda district accounted for 54 deaths due to sunstroke, followed by Sundargarh (46), Baragarh (42) and Sonepur (41). While 40 people have died so far in Bolangir district, the intense heat has claimed the lives of 63 people in Boudh district in Western Orissa.

Reports from other states were as depressing. Seventy heat wave-related deaths were reported from Bihar, 66 in Andhra Pradesh, 13 in Uttar Pradesh, two in West Bengal and one in Rajasthan over the past 24 hours.

According to a Patna report, 18 people died in Nalanda district, 11 in Daltonganj, eight in Garhwa, ten in Vaishali, three in Siwan, two in Muzaffarpur and one in Kaimur district since Tuesday. Five people died of sun stroke in Saran district according to a Chapra report. The toll stood at 169 in Bihar.

In Andhra Pradesh, the severe heat wave has claimed 66 lives in the last 24 hours, a report from Rajamundhry said. Three hundred and sixty three people have died in the state so far.

State revenue authorities said East Godavari district accounted for the maximum number -- 137 -- deaths related to sun stroke, followed by Nalgonda (54), Krishna (34), Srikakulam (32), West Godavari and Nellore (31 each), Karimnagar (26), Guntur (10), Visakhapatnam (6) and Kurnool (2). Most parts of the Rayalaseema and Telangana regions continued to reel under heat wave conditions.

Hanamkonda recorded a maximum temperature of 45.8 degrees C, while Kurnool and Nalgonda recorded 45 degrees C, followed by Adilabad (44.9 degrees C), Ramagundam (44.7 degrees C) and Anantapur (42.3 deg.C). The twin cities recorded a day temperature of 43 degrees C.

Eightyseven people have died in Uttar Pradesh so far; 13 in the past 24 hours alone. Banda continued to be the hottest place in the state. The entire plains have experienced severe heat wave conditions for the last 20 days.

The maximum temperature of 47 degrees C in the state was recorded in Banda followed by Allahabad and Varanasi (46 degrees C) and Bareilly, Lucknow and Sultanpur (45 degrees C).

Erratic power supply and poor civic conditions continue to torment Lucknow residents who are experiencing their worst summer in recent times. People in Eastern UP and Bundelkhand were also affected by the poor power situation and inadequate water supply.

UNI

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