Heat wave continues; death toll rises to nearly 700

Andhra Pradesh continued to bear the brunt of intense heat wave that has been sweeping many parts of the country with as many as 149 people dying because of it in the state since yesterday, raising to nearly 700 the overall toll in various states.
Sweltering conditions persisted in Delhi as also other states like Telangana, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal with temperature hovering around 45 degree celsius in most of these places.
According to Skymet, a private weather forecasting agency, Angul in Odisha recorded 47 degree, while Chandrapur and Wardha in Maharashtra witnessed 46.6 and 46.5 degrees, respectively.

Delhi recorded 45 degree celsius, 0.5 degrees less than yesterday which was the hottest day.
There could be some respite from the sweltering heat as some parts of north and south India are expected to experience thunder storm in next two days, thus bringing down the temperature by a few notches.
Kashmir Valley, on the other hand, is witnessing pleasant weather with maximum temperature around 22 degree celsius.

Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh saw the death of 149 people since yesterday, raising the toll in the state to 551. The number of deaths in the state till yesterday was 302.
The overall death toll in various parts of the country due to hot weather till yesterday stood at around 550 and with 149 more deaths since then, the number has gone up to 699.

The scorching weather claimed 104 lives in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh alone, Special Commissioner for Disaster Management Tulsi Rani said today.
Guntur was followed by East Godavari with 90 deaths, Vizianagaram with 84 deaths, Visakhapatnam 61 and Prakasam district 57, she told PTI. In other districts, the death toll varied between 8 and 36.
According to the Meteorological department, heatwave conditions will prevail in several parts of the state.