A relentless heatwave has tightened its grip over large swathes of India, with the death toll from suspected heat-related incidents climbing to a staggering 87. According to reports, a total of 45 people have tragically lost their lives in 36 hours alone.
The torrid conditions have exacted a heavy toll, with 19 deaths reported in western Odisha, 16 in Uttar Pradesh, five in Bihar, four in Rajasthan and one fatality in Punjab. Distressingly, at least 23 of the victims were poll personnel deployed for the recently concluded final phase of the Lok Sabha elections on June 1st.
In Bihar, 14 people, including 10 election staff, succumbed to suspected heatstroke over the past 24 hours, as per state officials. The southern district of Aurangabad witnessed multiple casualties among polling workers.
The situation remains equally grim in Uttar Pradesh’s Mirzapur district, where 13 deaths have been linked to the scorching temperatures. Among the deceased are seven home guard jawans, three sanitation workers, a clerk from the Chief Medical Officer’s office, a land consolidation officer, and a peon – all admitted to a local hospital with high fever and blood pressure concerns.
Odisha has borne the brunt, recording 26 heat-related deaths so far, with five officially confirmed as sunstroke fatalities and the remaining under investigation. Many victims were truck drivers, potentially succumbing to the combined effects of blistering metal truck bodies, severe dehydration, and unrelenting heat. Jharsuguda, which saw temperatures soaring past 47°C on Thursday, has urged residents to remain indoors between 10 am and 4 pm.
In the eastern state of Jharkhand, four people died of sunstroke on Friday, while a staggering 1,326 others required hospitalization due to heat-related illnesses. All district hospitals have been directed to set aside air-conditioned rooms and empty beds for heatstroke patients.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) confirmed that heat wave to severe heat wave conditions prevailed over many parts of Haryana, Chandigarh-Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, coastal Andhra Pradesh and Yanam on Friday.
Delhi itself recorded its first heat-related fatality of the year, as a 40-year-old laborer tragically succumbed to heatstroke. However, the searing 52.9°C temperature recorded at Delhi’s Mungeshpur area on May 29th – initially feared to be the country’s highest ever – has been attributed to a sensor malfunction by the IMD.
A committee of experts found the automatic weather station sensor at Mungeshpur was reporting temperatures about 3°C higher than standard instruments. While no other Delhi observatory crossed 50°C that day, the erroneous Mungeshpur reading exceeded the capital’s previous all-time high of 48.4°C in 1998.
The IMD stated that “necessary remedial measures” are being taken to prevent such AWS errors, emphasizing the 52.9°C reading was “an outlier” compared to other Delhi stations which recorded maximums between 45.2-49.1°C on May 29th.
While temperatures have begun easing in some regions like Rajasthan, Punjab and eastern Uttar Pradesh, the lingering heatwave continues to take a severe toll on human life and health. Experts warn that outdoor and manual laborers face heightened risks during such extreme weather events.