The Hindu : National : No let-up in heat wave, toll touches 183

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Monday, Jun 20, 2005

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National

No let-up in heat wave, toll touches 183

Monsoon advances to Maharashtra, heavy rain predicted for North-East

— PHOTO: PTI

AMID PARCHED LAND: Women returning home after collecting water at Jhajjar in Haryana. The northern and eastern parts of the country are reeling under heat wave conditions.

BHUBHANESHWAR: The death toll from a heat wave smothering much of the country touched 183 on Sunday, as the weather office reported that the monsoon is moving slowly toward the parched regions.

At least 39 and 37 people have died from the heat in the sizzling plains of northern Uttar Pradesh and the eastern State of West Bengal while another 11 people died in western Maharashtra and southern Andhra Pradesh. Seventy-five people have died in Orissa. With temperatures touching 51.1 C (123.9 F), West Bengal's Purulia district on Sunday was the hottest zone and hundreds of people were reported sick.

The weather office confirmed ``a severe heat wave condition'' in many parts of Orissa, neighbouring Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. It said the rains had ``further advanced'' from southern India to reach the central and eastern States as well as parts of Maharashtra at the weekend. The office also predicted heavy rain for Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Nagaland. — AFP

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