Mirzapur/Patna: India reported at least 40 deaths from heatstroke on Friday, including 25 officials attached to Lok Sabha election work in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, as a heatwave hit large swaths of the country.
Heatstroke deaths were also reported in Odisha (10), Bihar (8), Jharkhand (4) and Uttar Pradesh (1) on Thursday, officials said. At least five heatstroke deaths have been reported in Rajasthan so far.
Of the deaths recorded on Friday, Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of deaths with 17, followed by Bihar with 14, Odisha with five and Jharkhand with four. More than 1,300 people in Jharkhand have been hospitalised with heatstroke, according to officials.
Rising temperatures have also led to water scarcity in some parts of the country, including Delhi, where residents continue to face severe water shortages and struggle to get water for their daily needs in long queues.
“We have been waiting in the queue since 4 am but cannot reach the water tanker due to the crowds… It is a struggle to get water,” said Bibha Devi, a resident of Geeta Colony in Delhi.
According to the India Meteorological Department, the Kanpur (IAF) weather station recorded the highest temperature in the country at 48.2°C. Sirsa in Haryana was the second hottest place at 47.8°C. Ayanagar in Delhi recorded the maximum temperature of 47°C in the city.
The India Meteorological Department said overall heat wave to severe heat wave conditions prevailed in many parts of Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, parts of Bihar, eastern Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and isolated areas in Jharkhand.
Heatwave conditions are also continuing in parts of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Vidarbha, Western Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Heatwave conditions are also continuing in Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi.
The India Meteorological Department said the scorching heat situation is expected to ease over the next few days.
Meanwhile, officials in Uttar Pradesh state, where 13 seats including Sonbhadra and Mirzapur will go to polls on Saturday, said at least 15 election staff had died of suspected heatstroke.
Dr Raj Bahadur Kamal, dean of Maa Vindhyavasini Autonomous State Medical College in Mirzapur, told PTI news agency that 13 election staff were killed at the hospital, including seven SDF soldiers, three sanitation workers, a clerk at the medical director’s office, a chakbandi adhikari (integration officer) and a junior member of the SDF team.
They were brought to the facility with high fevers and high blood pressure.
Two polling staff in Sonbhadra district died due to heat stress and nine others were undergoing treatment in hospital, officials said.
Officials in Kaushambi, Uttar Pradesh, said two people, including an elderly woman, died of heatstroke at a hospital in the district on Thursday.
In neighbouring Bihar state, where voting for eight Lok Sabha seats will take place on Saturday, 14 people, including 10 polling staff, have died of heatstroke in the past two days, officials said.
Three election officials were killed in Rohta district, one each in Kaimur and Aurangabad districts, the newspaper said, adding that four more people were killed in other parts of the state.
All schools, coaching institutes and anganwadi centres have been closed till June 8 due to the extreme heat.
Meanwhile, the Odisha state government on Friday confirmed five deaths due to sunstroke so far, while investigations are currently underway into 18 more deaths suspected to be linked to heatstroke.
Four people died of sunstroke and 1,326 were rushed to hospital on Friday as scorching heat continued in most parts of the eastern state of Jharkhand, officials said.
All hospitals and other medical facilities in the district have been asked to prepare air-conditioned rooms and spare beds for heatstroke patients, he said.
“Four people have died in Jharkhand due to heat stroke — three in Palamu and one in Jamshedpur. These deaths did not occur in hospitals. 1,326 people have been admitted to hospitals due to heat-related issues in various districts of the state. Of these, 63 cases have been confirmed as heat stroke so far,” Mission Director, National Health Mission (Jharkhand), Dr Alok Trivedi told PTI.
Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department said the southwest monsoon has advanced over the remaining parts of the northeastern Bay of Bengal, parts of the northwestern Bay of Bengal, remaining parts of Tripura, Meghalaya and Assam and most parts of West Bengal and Sikkim west of the Himalayas.
Published June 1, 2024 03:31 IST
