58 more die of heat stress as mercury soars across India

At least 58 people in India, including 33 deployed on election duty in Uttar Pradesh, died on Saturday due to heat exposure, according to official reports from across the country, which continued to reel under a punishing heatwave with conditions unfit for human exposure.

The other deaths were reported from Bihar, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh, officials in these states said. But the single biggest toll was from Uttar Pradesh, where elections were held in 13 constituencies, including regions like Ballia, where the heat index soared to an alarming 61°C, according to HT's calculations.

Indian UP chief electoral officer Navdeep Rinwa confirmed the fatalities and said the deceased were homeguards, sanitation workers and other polling staff who were on duty during the day-long voting. A day earlier, 15 polling personnel had died across UP.

In all, 108,349 polling personnel were deployed on Saturday. Rinwa said the process of giving an ex-gratia compensation of ₹15 lakh was underway. Reports indicated that polling duty, such as that of a homeguard, paid ₹500 a day.

Deaths among those on election duty was also reported from Bihar, where 10 such fatalities were recorded from a confirmed single day toll of 14. An official who asked not to be named said the number could rise.

According to a statement issued by Bihar's disaster management department (DMD), most of the fatalities were reported from Bhojpur, where five officials on election duty died of heatstroke. Three died in Rohtas, one each from Kaimur and Aurangabad. "The process of granting ex-gratia to the families of the deceased has been initiated," the statement said.

Disaster management officials in Odisha said at least nine more died because of heat-related illness, taking the death toll in the 48 hours preceding Saturday to 54. On Friday, the number of heat related deaths in Odisha was 45. Of the suspected 54 deaths, 20 were reported from western Odisha district of Bolangir, followed by 15 in Sambalpur.

Several parts of Odisha are also in the grip of humid conditions, making the heat significantly more threatening to human health since the heat index in many of these regions surpassed the 50°C mark.

Special Relief Commissioner Satyabrata Sahu said 96 deaths have been alleged due to sunstroke since May 15.

In Uttar Pradesh, a police constable posted at Ramabai Ambedkar Ground guarding EVMs died on Saturday due to suspected heatwave, but the joint commissioner, law and order, Upendra Agarwal, said the reason for death will be known after post-mortem autopsy is conducted.

On Friday, 15 personnel on poll duty in Mirzapur and Sonbhadra died of suspected heat-related ailments, district officials confirmed. Thirteen of them, including seven home guards, three sanitation workers and a clerical staffer, died in Mirzapur alone, Mirzapur divisional commissioner Muthukumarasamy B said.

In Madhya Pradesh, two heatwave-related deaths were reported, one each in Orccha and Gwalior. Nivari recorded the highest temperature of 47 degrees Celsius in MP followed by Chhatarpur (46.3) and Singrauli (46.2). IMD scientist Ved Prakash Singh said, "The maximum temperature in west and south MP decreased to major extent and locals got relief from heat waves but in North and eastern MP, the temperature is still above 45 degrees Celsius and locals are facing heat waves."