Two die of heat stroke in Punjab

CHANDIGARH - An 18-year-old rickshaw puller and a middle-aged police constable died from heat stroke in Punjab, health officials said here Saturday.

The rickshaw puller died in Zirakpur town, around 10 km from here, Friday while the Punjab Police head constable died in Hoshiarpur town, about 120 km from the state capital.

On Saturday, there was a dip in mercury in the region as overcast conditions prevailed since Friday.

This has brought some respite from the scorching heat in Punjab. The minimum temperature in Amritsar city of Punjab was 24.1 degrees Celsius while in Patiala and Ludhiana cities it was 27 and 21.6 degrees respectively.

Chandigarh, joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, recorded a minimum temperature of 25 degrees.

“We are expecting duststorms and thunderstorms in various parts of Punjab and Haryana in the next 24 hours. This will certainly bring down the mercury to some extent,” said Surender Paul, director of Chandigarh meteorological centre.

In Haryana, Ambala, Hisar and Karnal cities recorded a minimum temperature of 25.4, 28.2 and 28 degrees respectively.