Sunstroke kills 2 in Maharashtra, many states reel under heatwave

Sunstroke claimed the lives of two persons in Maharashtra while many states including UP, MP, Haryana, Gujarat, Odisha and Rajasthan in the country too reeled under the onslaught of an early heatwave.

In Maharashtra, where the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a 'moderate heat wave' alert, two person lost their lives to sunstroke, one in Solapur and another in Aurangabad district.

"The sudden rise in temperature has claimed two persons from Maharashtra, both were above 60 years. One person is from Aurangabad while another person is from Solapur district--both known for higher temperature areas," state Health Minister Deepak Sawant told PTI.

Sunstroke incidents may take place when temperature crosses 40 degree Celsius and districts across the country showed mercury crossing that mark.

Akola was the hottest place in India with a maximum temperature of 44 degree Celsius while Titlagarh in Odisha was a close second recording 43.8 degrees.

Wardha in Maharashtra and Banda in Uttar Pradesh were the third hottest places in the country recording a maximum of 43.6 degree Celsius.

Heatwave conditions continued for second day on Thursday in Rajasthan as several districts recorded maximum temperatures of 40 plus degrees. And there is unlikely to be any respite as the MeT department has predicted dry weather in the next 24 hours as well.

Churu was the hottest on Thursday touching 42.4 degrees Celsius, followed by 41.8 degrees in Bikaner, 41.6 degrees Celsius in Kota, 41.5 degrees in Barmer, 41.4 in Jaipur, 41.2 degrees Celsius in Jaisalmer and 39.4 degrees Celsius in Jodhpur.

Hot and dry air in Rajasthan had their impact in Madhya Pradesh as well where at least six districts saw maximum temperatures of around 43 degrees Celsius on Wednesday.

"Yesterday, the highest temperature in the state was recorded at around 43 degrees Celsius at several places including Khargone, Khajuraho, Ratlam, Naugaon, Damoh and Hoshangabad, while the lowest temperature of 17 degrees Celsius was recorded in Rewa and Betul districts," an official said.

Heat wave conditions were witnessed at isolated place in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday where Banda recording 43.2 degree Celsius was the hottest place in the state.

In Gujarat too, temperatures have been hovering between 40-42 degrees in the last few days. "As per current forecast, heat wave conditions will stay in north Gujarat region for another 24 hours," in-charge director of IMD Centre at Ahmadabad, Manorama Mohanty said.

On Monday, mercury in Ahmedabad had touched 42.8 degrees breaking seven-year record for the month of March. Narnaul was again hottest in Haryana at 41.5 degree Celsius. Uttarakhand capital Dehradun registered 35.8 degree Celsius.

Among other cities in Haryana, Hisar experienced a hot

day at 39 degrees Celsius, six notches more than normal limits. Ambala recorded 36.3 degrees Celsius while Karnal's maximum was 35.6 degrees.

In Punjab, Patiala registered a maximum of 36.2 degrees, seven notches above normal while Ludhiana recorded six degrees above normal high at 35.7 deg Celsius. Amritsar's maximum settled at 34.7 deg Celsius, five notches above normal limits.

Chandigarh, the common capital of Punjab and Haryana, recorded a high of 34.5 deg Celsius, three notches more than normal.

Pleasant weather continued to prevail in Kashmir where the maximum temperature in the summer capital Srinagar today rose by three degrees to settle seven degrees above normal, MeT officials said.

The maximum temperature in Jammu dropped by a degree to settle at 33 degrees Celsius, still four degrees above normal.

In Himachal Pradesh, Shimla recorded a maximum temperature at 25.1 degrees Celsius, 7.5 degrees above normal. Dry conditions prevailed in several other states as well like parts of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka.