IANS/Hyderabad


Many parts of India continue to be in the grip of an intense heatwave, officials said yesterday.
More than 100 people have died in Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said here.
Severe heatwave conditions have been reported in both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
Elderly people, daily wage labourers, beggars and people living on footpaths have been the worst hit. The Hyderabad Meteorological Centre has warned that severe heatwave conditions may continue for three more days in both states.
Khammam in Telangana sizzled at 48 degrees Celsius, the highest temperature in the state this season. This also broke a 68-year-old record in Khammam when the town had recorded 47.2 degree in 1947.
Nalgonda, Nizamabad and Ramagundem also sizzled at 47 degrees. Mahabubnagar and Adilabad recorded 45 degrees and Hyderabad 44 degrees.
The south coastal Andhra region bore the brunt with many places recording three to five degrees higher temperature than normal. A maximum temperature of 47 degrees was recorded at Nandigama and Vijayawada.
The heatwave, attributed to dry winds blowing from the north, has badly hit life in both states. Streets in many towns wore a deserted look as people preferred to stay indoors to escape the sun’s fury. Traffic was thin on the roads of Hyderabad during day time.
The eastern state of West Bengal too was reeling under a heatwave. A taxi driver died of a suspected heatstroke yesterday taking the toll to four since Friday.
“The driver was found lying unconscious inside his taxi near Jadavpur. Later, he was pronounced dead in hospital,” said a police officer.
On Friday a Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) employee and a prisoner died as the mercury soared past 40 degrees in several districts of the state.


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