Heat wave bakes India before monsoon

Temperatures close to 50 degrees Celsius gripped large swathes of India, with heat stroke killing dozens of people as the country waits for the annual monsoon rains to reach the mainland.

The hottest place in the country, at 49.3 degrees (121 Fahrenheit), was Sri Ganganagar in the northern desert state of Rajasthan, with severe heat also prevailing in the adjacent states of Punjab and Haryana.

Streets were deserted this week as residents stayed indoors to escape the heat. The heat wave is likely to subside in the next three to four days, said BP Yadav, the spokesman for the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Monsoon rains are forecast to hit the mainland at the weekend, but have not advanced for the past six days, their progress slowed by last week's cyclone Laila. While this year's rains are forecast to be normal, last year saw temperatures soar to the warmest year on record since 1901 and brought the driest monsoon in nearly four decades.

Officials in the eastern state of Orissa alone have confirmed 34 deaths from the heat wave since March, though authorities are investigating 65 more suspected deaths.