The death toll from a heat wave in India reached 47 on Sunday, as soaring temperatures hit several regions across the country, officials said.
"Five people died in the heat wave in the last 24 hours, taking the toll in the state to 19," police official Manish Awasthi told AFP from the northern Uttar Pradesh state capital Lucknow.
In eastern Orissa, 27 people died of heat-related problems over the weekend. One death was reported in the holy city of Amritsar in Punjab state.
Soaring temperatures are common in May in India ahead of the onset of the crucial south-west monsoon rains that normally sweep the subcontinent from June to September.
In the tourist town of Agra in Uttar Pradesh, home to the Taj Mahal monument, the mercury shot up to 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit), four degrees above normal.
Scores of cities and towns in India are facing water shortages and prolonged power cuts, triggering a spate of attacks on those running the overwhelmed state-run utilities.
In New Delhi, reeling due to severe electricity cuts, the temperature climbed to 44.5 degrees Celsius.