Friday fury in North India

New Delhi: A terrible heat wave across large parts of India is killing people and making life difficult.

Fourteen people in Orissa and Uttar Pradesh have died due to heatstroke, and the weatherman says the mercury won’t be coming down soon.

The temperature reached 44 degrees Celsius in Delhi on Saturday—4 degrees above normal. On Friday, the temperature in the city was 43.8 degrees Celsius.

Hours-long blackouts and a severe water shortage makes Delhiites’ misery worse.

The temperature is above four to six degrees above normal in most places in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana. In Rajasthan, temperatures are above 42 degree Celsius. Sri Ganganagar recorded a maximum of 48 degrees Celsius and Churu 47 degrees Celsius.

Senior Congress leader Natwar Singh, who was attending an election in Khoh in Deeg district of Rajasthan suffered a heatstroke. He was admitted to a hospital and is now fine.

In Uttar Pradesh, Jhansi was the hottest town at 46 degrees Celsius and other cities recorded temperatures between 37 degrees Celsius and 43 degrees Celsius. The state has had five heat related deaths since Friday: two in Ballia and one each in Jaunpur, Azamgarh and Mau districts.

At least nine persons have died of sunstroke in Orissa since summer began. The state control room on Friday said it has got reports of 38 deaths from 18 districts but this has not been confirmed.

In Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, the temperature in most places is above four to six degrees normal. Chandigarh recorded a high of 41.4 degrees Celsius—four degrees above normal—on Friday. Amritsar, where a vagrant died of heatstroke last month, recorded 43.2 degrees Celsius.

Patiala touched 42.8 degrees Celsius—four degrees above normal—and Ludhiana recorded a high of 42.6 degrees Celsius. Frequent breakdowns in power supply have made it a double whammy for people in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh.

The heat is so bad that even Srinagar witnessed a high of 29 degrees Celsius on Friday.

Southern India is little better. Coastal Karnataka, parts of Kerala and Lakshadweep have got rainfall but it’s still hot and humid. The met office has predicted a heat wave in Tamil Nadu in the next few days.

Nungambakkam, in Chennai, recorded a maximum temperature of 34.6 degree Celsius on Thursday and suburban Meenambakkam recorded 35.8 deg C.