25 poll staff among 40 heat deaths

Mirzapur/ Patna: India Friday reported at least 40 suspected heat-related deaths, 25 of them of staff deployed on Lok Sabha poll duty in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, as heatwave conditions gripped a large swathe of the country.

According to officials, heat-related deaths were reported from Odisha (10), Bihar (8), Jharkhand (4) and Uttar Pradesh (1) on Thursday also. Rajasthan has reported at least five heat-related deaths so far. Among the fatalities recorded on Friday, the maximum 17 were from Uttar Pradesh, 14 from Bihar, five from Odisha and four from Jharkhand, where officials said more than 1,300 people are hospitalised with heatstroke conditions.

The soaring temperatures also caused water scarcity in some parts of the country including in Delhi where the residents faced continued acute shortages, with people in long queues struggling to secure enough to meet their daily needs. "I stand in line from 4 am, but due to the crowd, I cannot reach the water tanker... It's hard to get water," said Vibha Devi, a resident of Delhi's Geeta Colony. According to the India Meteorological Department, the Kanpur (IAF) weather station recorded the maximum temperature in the country at 48.2. Haryana's Sirsa was the second hottest place at 47.8 degree Celsius.

Delhi's Ayanagar recorded the maximum temperature for the city at 47 degrees Celsius. Overall, the IMD said heatwave to severe heatwave conditions prevailed over many parts of Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh; in some parts of Bihar, east Madhya Pradesh; in isolated pockets of Odisha, Jharkhand. Heatwave conditions also prevailed in some parts of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Vidarbha, West Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.