Heatwave is likely to continue in some pockets over East Uttar Pradesh, East Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, coastal Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana today (June 20), the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Tuesday. The eastern part of the country has been reeling under sweltering heat for the last few days, with temperatures touching 44 degrees.
For Tuesday, the weather office has issued an orange alert for UP's 12 districts - Gorakhpur, Deoria, Ballia, Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Varanasi, Chandauli, Mirzapur, Sonbhadra, Sant Ravidas Nagar, and Prayagraj.
Barring a few districts in western UP, a yellow alert has been issued in most parts of the state. Ballia has been among the worst hit, where a score of deaths has been reported in the last few days.
The Met Centre-Lucknow has issued a yellow alert for Wednesday as well but there is no orange alert for any district till June 24. In Bihar, five people died due to heat stroke in the Bhojpur district, officials said on Monday. The mercury crossed the 43-degree Celsius mark or more at several places in the state on Monday, with Aurangabad recording the highest maximum temperature of 44.7 degrees Celsius.
"The entire state is currently in the grip of a scorching heat wave. The situation is being monitored by the Disaster Management Department," Bihar Disaster Management Minister Shahnawaz Alam said.
In Bihar, an orange alert has been issued for six districts - Bhojpur, Buxar, Arwal, Aurangabad, Rohtas, and Kaimur - and a yellow alert for the rest of the state till June 24.
In its latest update, the IMD today said that heatwave conditions have been prevailing over Odisha, Jharkhand, Telangana, and Coastal Andhra for the last 10-13 days, and over East UP, East Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Chattisgarh, and Vidarbha for last 7-9 days.
The IMD on Monday said that heatwave conditions over eastern India and adjoining areas are likely to abate gradually from Tuesday onwards.