For the 20th day in a row, Andhra Pradesh in south India reeledunder severe heatwave conditions making it the longest and deadliest spell in recent history so far claiming 1,139 lives.

The state accounted for highest number of deaths due to sunstroke in the country with 74 deaths reported during the last 24 hours.

"The heat wave which started on May 16 is still continuing. This is quite a long spell," Director of Meteorological Center C VBhadram said.

The mercury levels during the last 20 days hovered around 46 to48 degrees Celsius at several places in Telangana and coastal Andhra regions.

The heatwave spell last year lasted just over a week but claimed 1,037 lives.

State Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu wrote to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee seeking assistance of 50,000 rupees (1,064 USdollars) each to the kins of the dead from the National Calamity Relief Fund.

He said that the absence of monsoon showers in time had added to the heatwave condition which was "worst of its sort for the last three weeks."

Meanwhile, 14 more deaths were reported from other parts of thecountry -- six from Rajasthan, three from Punjab, two each from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh and one from Gujarat.

Titlagarh in Orissa's Balangir district was the hottest in the country with 49.1 degree Celsius followed by Churu in Rajasthan where the temperature soared to 49 degrees.

Mercury surged further to 47.7 degrees in Nagpur in Maharashtra,which registered a record high in 72 years yesterday at 47.2 degrees.

Delhi had the hottest night of the season with 32 degree Celsius. It recorded a maximum of 45.6 degrees, the highest of theseason, for the second day.

Weather office forecast some respite from the heat in a day or two in Delhi, Haryana, West Rajasthan and Punjab where a dust storm was likely to bring down the temperature.

Large parts of India are also critically short of water as rivers, lakes and wells have dried up due to a drought caused by last year's failed monsoon.

Tens of thousands of people are forced to trek miles in search of wells that have not run dry or wait hours in the blistering sunfor water tankers.

(Xinhua News Agency June 5, 2003)