Sweltering heat across India's northern plains, combined with power cuts that shut off water pumps and fans, have caused at least 28 deaths in the past week, officials said yesterday.

The worst hit was Uttar Pradesh state, where 18 people have died as summer temperatures climbed above 42 C, said Rajkumar Singh, a police official in the state capital, Lucknow. Five of them died overnight on Saturday, he said.

In the eastern coastal state of Orissa, 10 people have died from sunstroke, Manmohan Samal, a state minister said yesterday.

The power blackouts and water shortages have led to street protests across Uttar Pradesh. In Gorakhpur, in eastern Uttar Pradesh, angry residents set fire to two government jeeps to protest against an eight-hour long power outage, police said.

"Three people have been arrested late Saturday for rioting and damaging government property," Ghulam Abbas, a police spokesman, said.

In Agra, about 210 kilometres east of India's capital, New Delhi, and home to the Taj Mahal, daytime temperature crossed 44 C on Saturday, the meteorological department said.

Temperatures were likely to go up even further over the next 48 hours, said R. K. Verma, the department's director.

Conditions were made worse by an electricity shortage that led to frequent power outages in many parts of the country.

In New Delhi, the city government was forced to withdraw orders asking shops to shut early after traders protested. On Friday, the government had ordered shops to close by 7:30 pm in a bid to conserve electricity.

However, orders to unplug air conditioners in offices by 6:30 pm and not to switch them on in homes until 9 pm would remain, an official said yesterday, speaking on condition of anonymity since he was not authorized to speak to the media.

India faces chronic power shortages as its underdeveloped infrastructure struggles to meet the needs of its growing population and economy.

Source: China Daily