AS THE SUN BEATS DOWN: A roadside tap in Rae Bareli comes as a godsend for this man on a hot afternoon. — Photo: AP

New Delhi: The unrelenting heat wave sweeping across the country claimed three more lives in Uttar Pradesh taking the toll to 20 on Sunday. Frequent power outages made the day worse and in some places the mercury crossed 40 degrees Celsius.

Hissar in Haryana recorded 47 degrees Celsius, Ganganagar in Rajasthan read 47.6, Gwalior 46, Buldana in Maharashtra 47, Nagpur 46.6, Rajkot in Gujarat 44, while New Delhi sweltered at 44.4 degrees.

Agra, with 45, was the hottest place in Uttar Pradesh.

Three deaths were reported in Auraiya, Chitrakoot and Lalitpur districts since Saturday. The toll in the State due to the heat wave has now reached 10 while another 10 persons have died in Orissa.

The temperature in Delhi went beyond 44 degrees for the second straight day this summer and people preferred to keep indoors and bear with the power cuts rather than venture out.

The minimum was also one degree above normal at 25.7 degrees. Severe heat wave conditions across the north are likely to continue for the next couple of days and the maximum will hover around 44, Meteorological Department officials said.

Hot dry winds continued to batter Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab with Karnal at 43, Amritsar soaring to 44.5, Ludhiana at 42.8, Jaipur 44.2, Ajmer 43.2 and Churu at 47.1.

Himachal Pradesh, however, received a respite with a squall and sharp showers. Mandi experienced a squall while Shimla was lashed by sharp showers that brought down the mercury from Saturday's high of 28.

In Madhya Pradesh, Gwalior was the hottest followed by Khajuraho at 45.7, Hoshangabad 45.5, Sagar 44.4, Bhopal 43.5 and Indore at 43.3.

Temperatures in several parts of Maharashtra hovered betweeen 39 and 47 degrees with Akola, Washim and Buldana in west Vidarbha the worst hit. Khamgaon in Buldana district reached 47 while Jalgaon in Nasik district recorded 44.6 followed by Malegaon 44, and Nasik city 39.3 degrees.

Day temperatures were "appreciably above normal" in Uttaranchal, Kashmir, Vidharba region of Maharashtra, some parts of Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura, and coastal Orissa and Gujarat, officials at the Central Observatory at Pune said. — PTI

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