Large parts of south Bengal continued to reel under intense heat wave on Saturday, which also claimed the life of a taxi driver in the city.
The driver, Shatrughan Poddar (52), was found lying unconscious inside his taxi near Jadavpur area of the city and was declared dead on being taken to the hospital.
Three persons, including a Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) employee and an under trial prisoner, had died of suspected heat wave across the State on Friday.
The maximum temperature recorded in the State was 37.3 degrees Celsius which is one degrees above normal. However, it was high level of humidity that increased the discomfort level.
Officials at the Regional Meteorological Centre at Alipore said that there is no possibility of rain and the weather condition is not likely to change in the next 48 hours. The officials predicted heat wave across the Gangetic Bengal on Sunday.
Meanwhile, taxi operators union have urged their members not to ply vehicles in the afternoon.
“We have written to the Chief Minister and Transport Secretary informing them that taxies will not ply on the road in this heat from 11.30 a.m. to 4 p.m. This will continue until the temperature goes down,” the president of Bengal Taxi Association, a major taxi owners’ organisation in Bengal Bimal Guha told The Hindu .
In the districts of south Bengal the mercury had crossed 40 degrees. In districts like Bankura, Purulia and Murshidabad deaths due to suspected heat wave have also come to fore.
