LARGE parts of the country were in the grip of punishing heat, as Banda in Uttar Pradesh scorched at 48.2 degrees Celsius and authorities in Indore said on Tuesday that a four-year-old girl has died of suspected suffocation after getting trapped inside a car in scorching heat. Soaring temperatures in Punjab made life difficult for people in Faridkot which sizzled at a day-temperature of 47.3 degrees, while most cities in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra also reeled under intense heat wave conditions, with Amravati recording a high of 46.8 degrees. It was a heatwave day in Delhi as temperatures in the city breached the 45 degrees-mark during the day. In Madhya Pradesh’s Indore, a four-year-old girl got trapped inside a car for several hours and was later found unconscious. Doctors declared her dead at the hospital. Authorities said she is suspected to have died of suffocation but the exact cause of death would be ascertained after a post-mortem.

 

In Uttar Pradesh, Banda emerged as the hottest place in the state at 48.2 degrees Celsius, while temperatures crossed the 40 degrees Celsius mark in 22 of the state’s 75 districts, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Among the hottest places in the state were Jhansi and Agra, which recorded a maximum temperature of 46.5 degrees Celsius each, followed by Prayagraj at 45.8 degrees Celsius. In Lucknow, the maximum temperature settled at 40.9 degrees Celsius. The weather office said heatwave to severe heatwave conditions were very likely at many places in southern UP and at a few places in the remaining parts of the state. It also warned of warm night conditions at isolated places in western UP. The health department is on alert following the IMD warning of severe heat and heatwave conditions over the next few days. The ongoing heat wave sweeping Punjab and Haryana further intensified, with Faridkot recording a high of of 47.3 degrees.