The Sikh holy city of Amritsar was the hottest place in Punjab with the temperature at a sizzling 44.5 degrees Celsius. Karnal in Haryana recorded 43 degrees while Ambala was lower at 39.8. Ludhiana and Patiala in Punjab recorded 42.8 degrees and 4?.5, respectively. Power cuts at most places in both the states made life miserable for people.
In the Indian capital, the mercury touched 44.5 degrees Celsius Sunday for the second straight day, forcing people to stay indoors to avoid the harsh, hot weather. A low-pressure area developing in southeast Uttar Pradesh could bring some respite in the form of thunderstorms in New Delhi Monday evening, said a weather official. "As of now, we do not expect any major change in the weather condition. The temperatures would remain 42-44 degrees Celsius for two days," the official said. He said the rise in temperature was normal for this part of the year.
B. Lal, director general of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), said the temperature in north India would remain three-five degrees above normal for the next 48 hours. While temperatures in much of Uttar Pradesh touched 40 degrees and above, in Agra, the city of the Taj, it was 45 degrees Celsius, seriously affecting tourist traffic. In the rocky southern part known as Bundelkhand, of which Jhansi is the main city, the mercury rose to 43 degrees. Orissa too recorded 40 degrees and above in many parts. However, capital city Bhubaneswar was better with 38 degrees. Four towns of Jharsuguda, Balasore, Chandbali and Hirakud recorded a maximum of 40 degrees and above Saturday.
Jharsuguda had last month recorded the highest temperature of this summer at 44.3 degrees Celsius. According to environmentalists, high temperatures used to be followed by heavy rain. But this has not been the case in the past decade. Andhra Pradesh too recorded over 40 degrees Celsius temperature in many parts of the state as heat wave conditions continued. The maximum temperature in Hyderabad and parts of Telangana and Rayalseema regions crossed 40 degrees Celsius Sunday. The mercury in Medak in Telangana region was 43 degrees. The Hyderabad Meteorological office said dry conditions would continue in most parts of the state. The temperature in Jaipur was 44.8 degrees Celsius, in Lucknow 40.2 and in Chandigarh 43 degrees. In the hills too the weather was hot. Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, recorded 32.4 degrees Celsius, 10 degrees above normal. Dehradun, in Uttaranchal, touched 37.6 degrees, three degrees above normal.
All ‘piyau’s’ or water points in major cities and towns were crowded with people quenching their parched throats. In Rajasthan, unofficial sources put the death toll due to the heat wave at six, but officials maintain there have been no heat-related deaths in the state so far. Orissa recorded nine deaths over a month, but none in the past week. Officials in Uttar Pradesh have denied any deaths due to the heat that was being reported by television channels. "We have not received any such information from any part of the state," an official spokesman of the home department said.