NEW DELHI, India, May 31, Reuter: More than 100 people have died in a scorching heat wave sweeping the parched plains and deserts of North India, where day temperatures have soared as high as 47 degrees centigrade To bring respite, an 86yearold Vedic scholar in the Hindu holy city Mathura is chanting verses from ancient scriptures to appease the rain god.

The Press Trust of India (PTI), said scientists from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology were looking for changes in the atmosphere that might be brought by Har Prasad Sharma’s rain bringing rituals. No changes have occurred so far.

“This is an open minded attempt to test the claim Sharma has made,” PTI quoted one scientist as saying.

More than 70 people have died in the desert state Rajasthan alone since the heat wave began two weeks ago.

In New Delhi, where day temperatures have shot up to 45 centigrade at least four people have died as a result of exposure to the heat, PTI said.

In the Indian capital and elsewhere the problem has been compounded by water shortages, power blackouts and dust clouds that hang in the air like fog, reducing visibility.

Up to 20 people suffering from exposure to heat are admitted daily to hospitals in New Delhi.

Doctors are advising people to drink as much water as possible to prevent dehydration and use an umbrella while walking in the sun.

Those who can afford to escape the heat of the plains rush to summer hill resorts in the North, but officials are advising holidaymakers to avoid hill stations like Simla.

An unprecedented water shortage has hit Simla, once the summer capital of India, and day temperatures are at least three to four degrees above normal at 30 centigrade.

In Mussoorie, another popular Hill station, crowding has become so serious that tourists driving there have to wait up to two hours before they can enter the town and find a parking bay.

PTI said Sharma, who claims to have successfully conducted similar exercises before, has been praying six hours a day munched over a fire for the past week.

Sharma believed the mantras would bring rain by May 31 but scientists said there was not enough humidity to induce rain.

Article extracted from this publication >> June 3, 1988