Thirty four people, all in their fifties and sixties, who were admitted to the district hospital in Ballia, about 400 kilometres from here, have died allegedly owing to severe heat in two days.
According to the reports, the deaths took place on Thursday and Friday.
Reports said that all these people had been admitted to the district hospital in the past few weeks. ''Twenty three people died on Thursday and 11 others died on Friday,'' said a district official in Ballia.
Ballia district chief medical officer (CMO) Dr Jayant Kumar, however, refuted the reports that the deaths had taken place owing to severe heat. ''All of them were in their fifties and sixties and suffered from several medical complications.....they were provided the best possible treatment but they could not be saved,'' Kumar said.
Chief medical superintendent (CMS) of the hospital Dr Diwakar Singh said that the deceased had other health related problems and their conditions aggravated owing to severe heat.
Singh said that air conditioners, fans and coolers have been arranged in the hospital to provide relief to the patients and the staff.
Several districts of Uttar Pradesh have been reeling under severe heat wave conditions for the past few days with the mercury shooting to 42-43 degrees celcius in many parts of the state.
The situation has worsened owing to prolonged power cuts, especially in the rural areas. According to the officials the peak hour demand for electricity was over 25 thousand MW.