ReliefWeb

India, May 20, 2008- The death toll from a heat wave sweeping the eastern Indian state of Orissa as well as a recent storm has risen to 41, the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) reported an official as saying on Sunday (May 18). Revenue control room official DN Sahu said four people were killed in Balasore district on Saturday (May 17) after a thunder squall, IANS reported. At least 37 people have died in the heat wave across Orissa since March 17. The storm also injured dozens of people and damaged property, the official said. According to IANS, on Saturday, Sundergarh recorded a maximum temperature of 45.5 degrees Celsius (114 degrees Fahrenheit) and Bhubaneswar recorded a maximum temperature of 40.5 degrees Celsius (105 degrees Fahrenheit). Other states across India have also seen deaths from the heat wave. Andra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Punjab and Rajasthan, have also reported deaths since the onset of summer. Heat waves typically claim dozens of lives in South Asia during the summer season, which begins in April, peaks in mid-May and continues through late June, when the annual monsoon season cools temperatures. Earlier this month, the Hindustan Times attributed Meteorology Department forecasters as saying that India has only seen the beginning of a long-term heat wave with persistent dry winds. At least 150 people died in a heat wave across northern India last year, most of them in June. Experts have said that average summer temperatures in South Asia have been rising annually.