Heat wave in North India: 5 dead in Delhi, 10 in Noida due to heatstroke in last 72 hours. Details here

5 people have died due to heatstroke in Delhi in the past 72 hours as the national capital continues to reel under a severe heatwave. The 5 victims died of heatstroke at 3 hospitals-- Ram Manohar Lohia, Safdarjung and LNJP Hospital. Delhi's Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and Safdarjung Hospital have reported 1 death each.

Around 36 people affected due to heatstroke are admitted at the RML hospital at present. Besides this, 3 people died at the LNJP hospital, including a car mechanic who succumbed to heatstroke on June 16. The mechanic was admitted to the hospital on June 15 with an extremely high fever of 106 degrees Celsius. 

Another casualty was a 70-year-old man from Bihar who missed his train and was roaming in the station. More than 7 people have been admitted to LNJP hospital with high fever hitting 106-107 degrees Celsius. Of them, 5 are on ventilator and 3 of them are above 65 years of age. 

"The patients who are developing severe illness are those who are elderly or have co-morbidities like hypertension, diabetes and Coronary Artery Disease (CAD). We are also getting few patients from other hospitals," Dr Ritu Saxena, deputy medical superintendent of LNJP hospital told news agency ANI. 

In Noida, over 10 people have succumbed to heatstroke in the last 24 hours. The CK Birla Hospital in Gurugram saw 1-2 outpatients daily with heat-related conditions like heat exhaustion and heat rash. 

Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted below-normal monsoon rainfall in June despite some regions reporting excessive rainfall. “Rainfall over the country as a whole for the month of June 2024 (till June 18) was 64.5 mm which was 20 per cent less than its Long Period Average (LPA) of 80.6 mm,” the IMD said. 

The weather office said that normal to above normal monthly rainfall is likely to prevail over parts of South Peninsular India and some areas of the Northeast. Many areas of Northwest, Central India and some parts of Northeast India are likely to report below-normal rainfall.