At least 98 people have died due to severe heat in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Many parts of north India continue to swelter under extreme heatwave conditions.

Women use scarves to protect themselves from the heat during a hot summer afternoon, in Kolkata (PTI Photo)

By India Today News Desk: As north India continues to reel under an extreme heatwave, at least 98 people have died in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh due to severe heat in the last three days. While 54 people have died in Uttar Pradesh, 44 people have lost their lives due to the extremely hot weather in Bihar.

At least 54 people admitted to a district hospital in Uttar Pradesh’s Ballia died between June 15, 16 and 17 as the state swelters under severe heat. At least 400 people were admitted to a district hospital in Ballia in the last three days with complaints of fever, breathlessness and other health complications, an official said.

Most of the patients were aged above 60, an official said. Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Jayant Kumar said the district is reeling under severe heat and people are being admitted to the hospital for treatment.

“All the individuals were suffering from some ailments and their conditions worsened due to the extreme heat,” Ballia’s Chief Medical Officer Jayant Kumar told The Associated Press on Saturday. He said most of the deaths were because of heart attack, brain stroke and diarrhea.

According to the official, 23 deaths were reported on June 15, 20 on June 16 and 11 on June 17 till 4 pm, prompting the government to call a team of doctors from the capital, Lucknow, to probe the cause of deaths.

Chief Medical Superintendent (CMS) of the District Hospital Diwakar Singh told reporters that fans, coolers and air conditioners have been arranged in the hospital to prevent the risk of heat stroke for patients and staff. The number of doctors and paramedical staff has also been increased due to the influx of patients, he added.

"With large numbers of patients flooding the hospital, we are now facing a shortage of stretchers," an official told India Today.

Uttar Pradesh Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak has dispatched a two-member team to Ballia to ascertain the cause of deaths. The administration has sacked the chief medical superintendent of the hospital, Dr Diwakar Singh, from his post.

As per India Meteorological Data (IMD), the maximum temperature in Ballia was recorded at 42.2 degrees Celsius on Friday, which is 4.7 degrees above normal.

44 DEATHS IN BIHAR

The situation is no different in Bihar as 44 people died in 24 hours due to extreme heatwaves. At least 18 places reeled under a severe heatwave and four under heatwave in the state.

Out of 44 deaths, 35 people have died in Patna alone, out of which 19 patients died in Nalanda Medical College and Hospital (NMCH) and 16 in PMCH. Nine people have died in other districts of the state.

The mercury in at least 11 districts surged past 44 degrees C with a severe heatwave on Saturday. Bihar's capital, Patna, recorded a maximum temperature of 44.7 degrees Celsius. Sheikhpura remained the hottest place at 45.1 degrees Celsius.

Schools have been shut in Patna till June 24 and other districts in the state have also ordered the closure of educational institutions.

The weather office has issued an "extreme heatwave" alert for the state on June 18 and 19. The districts affected by the red alert are Aurangabad, Rohtas, Bhojpur, Buxar, Kaimur, and Arwal. Patna, Begusarai, Khagaria, Nalanda, Banka, Sheikhpura, Jamui, and Lakhisarai have received orange alerts, while East Champaran, Gaya, Bhagalpur, Jehanabad, and East Champaran have received yellow alerts.

SUMMER VACATIONS EXTENDED IN MP SCHOOLS

The Madhya Pradesh government has decided to extend summer vacations in schools till June 30 in view of the extreme heatwave. While schools for students till Class 5 have been shut, students from Class 6 to 12 have been asked to attend their classes in the morning shift.

HEATWAVE ALERT

The IMD in its latest weather bulletin said severe heatwave conditions are likely to continue in many pockets of Vidarbha and Chhattisgarh during the next 5 days. Odisha, Jharkhand, Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Yanam, Bihar, Gangetic West Bengal, Telangana and eastern Uttar Pradesh are also likely to experience heatwaves.

"Heatwave to severe heat wave conditions are likely to continue over East, east central and east peninsular India during the next 3-4 days and gradual abatement thereafter," the IMD said.

(With inputs from Shashi Bhushan, Ravish Pal and Anil Akeyla)