Heatwave sweeps across India, 335 people dead

The blazing summer sun scorched cities across India on Saturday, with even hill stations like Mussoorie, which is 6,580 feet above sea level, sweltering at 36 degrees Celsius.

In the southern states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the heat was even more brutal, killing 135 people on Saturday. Heat-related deaths have now gone up to 335 in the last three days. While 75 died in Andhra, the toll was 60 in Telangana as temperatures were five to seven degrees above normal.

The two states rescheduled ongoing government schemes like NREGS as the majority of those who died of sunstroke were labourers.

At 48 degrees, Khammam in Telangana broke its previous record of 47.2 set in 1947.

Worse, the met department has warned that it's going to get hotter. According to IMD, Delhi, temperatures are rising in central, north-west, parts of east and peninsular India for the last few days.

Heat wave conditions will continue in Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar and Jharkhand for the next couple of days.

In UP, Allahabad, at a sweltering 47 degrees topped the heat chart. UP met director JP Gupta said the weather was expected to turn sultry with a rise in humidity levels along with temperatures.



The temperatures took residents and tourists in the hill stations of Mussorie, Almora, Nainital and Shimla by surprise. "It's unbelievable. Mussoorie feels no different from Delhi," said Smita Kapoor, a tourist from Delhi. Electric fans and refrigerators, a rarity in Mussoorie, until recently, are making their appearance in the hill town.

In the foothills, it was worse. Haldwani, at a height of 1,400 feet, saw people rushing for cover as the mercury crossed 42 degrees. Shimla and Manali were much better off with maximum temperatures of 28.6 and 25.8 degrees, respectively.

With temperatures hovering around 45 degrees at most places in Rajasthan, there are water shortages in many localities of Jaipur. Odisha was plagued by frequent power cuts as well even as the heatwave toll rose to 26 with three more deaths.