India is in the grip of a deadly summer, with soaring temperatures baking areas in the country's north and south.
The heatwave has killed at least 500 people in the last week, and officials say the country is set to swelter for some time.
Aileen Phillips reports.
The hottest place in India was Allahabad, a city in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, which saw temperatures rise to nearly 50 degrees Celsius on Sunday.
The capital Delhi recorded a high of 43.5 degrees.
Authorities have appealed for people not to venture out between 11am and four in the afternoon and to drink plenty of fluids.
Northern, western and central parts of India suffer intense heatwaves from mid April to July, before monsoon rains hit the region providing relief.
Assistant Director of the Indian Meteorological Department M Narasimha Rao says there will be some short-lived relief in sight.
"It will further continue today and tomorrow most probably the heatwave will continue. After that, we will get some relief so coastal areas and Telangana will get some rain. So temperature may fall by three to four degrees after two days. So some relief from the heat though. This is only temporary relief. This type of heating... this type of heating will continue until the onset of monsoon over the other states."
Local authorities say most of the recorded deaths have been of construction workers, the elderly or the homeless in the southern states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
Some deaths have also occurred in Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal.
Hospitals have been inundated with patients suffering from sun stroke and dehydration from the intense heat.
Frequent power cuts and reduced water supply at one hospital in Visakhapatnam exacerbated the situation and some complained that funs in the hospital were not functioning.
This man says his brother is a patient at the hospital.
"He suffered sunstroke while going to work yesterday morning. His condition became serious. People said that the temperature touched 45 degrees Celsius yesterday. It was extremely hot. I have never experienced such intense heat in Visakhapatnam before. The government needs to take precautions to help people in this situation."
Raju has been working as a cycle rickshaw driver for four years.
His day starts at 6am and usually finishes around midnight.
He told the BBC his work is labour intensive and combined with the severe heat, is taking its toll on his health.
"Sometimes when I am fed up with the heat I retire early. It is so hot now days that sometimes my blood pressure drops, pulse rate goes up and my body starts aching. I make five or six dollars a day and on a hot day like this I make even less since most people stay indoors. It is frustrating to wait in the heat for the commuters but still, for my children's sake, I have to get on the road every day."
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