NEW DELHI, May 6: Twenty-seven people have died of sunstroke in Orissa state, a state official said, taking the heat-related death toll in India to 33 as temperatures soared on Saturday.
“We are in a position to confirm 27 deaths at the moment,” Manmohan Samal, the state’s revenue minister, said.
Orissa officials said the actual death toll could be as high as 38 since the onset of the hot weather last month, with daytime temperatures in the state hovering at 42 degrees Celsius.
Sunstroke killed five people overnight in Uttar Pradesh state, where the temperature in the crowded city of Jhansi hit 46 degrees Celsius on Friday.
A vagrant also died of heat stroke last month in Amritsar.
The state of Rajasthan sizzled with temperatures soaring to a scorching 48 degrees Celsius in the garrison town of Ganganagar.
Temperatures hovered above normal in states such as Bihar, Haryana and East Punjab, the weather office reported, warning the sweltering conditions could continue until the onset of the annual monsoon rains due at the end of next month.
Scores of cities and towns are also facing water shortages and prolonged power cuts, triggering a spate of attacks on those running the overwhelmed state-run utilities.
18 held after riots: Eighteen people were arrested across Uttar Pradesh state on Saturday as protesters attacked electricity stations and government officials over frequent power cuts amid soaring temperatures.
Residents across the state took to the streets late on Friday, damaging government offices and clashing with officials after going without power for up to 14 hours, as temperatures crossed 40 degrees Celsius.
“At least 18 people have been arrested for power riots from different parts of the state,” Ghulam Abbas, a police spokesman said in Lucknow, the state capital.
Many people stayed up the entire night in Lucknow waiting for electricity.
“We could not sleep the whole night. We stayed awake waiting for the electricity, but it did not come,” housewife Mini Banerjee said.
Some others slept in air-conditioned cars.
“Children were crying. We made them sleep in the car with AC on,” said Rukmani Sharma. —AFP
