Patna, Jun 21 (IANS): With Bihar under the severe grip of heatwave, Buxar DM Anshul Agrawal said on Wednesday that 70 to 80 dead bodies are coming to the Mukti Dham cremation ground in the city every day.

"On normal days, 40 to 45 bodies wcremated at Mukti Dham, which have now gone up to 70 to 80 every day. It is a natural calamity and we are taking every possible step to provide relief to the common people. We have made arrangements for medicines at all government hospitals besides forming a dedicated ward for heatwave patients at the Sadar hospital," Agrawal said.

Due to the large number of deaths every day, people are waiting for their turn to cremate the bodies. Cremations are taking place even at night. The prices of wood and other necessary items used for cremation have also gone up at the cremation ground.

The situation is almost similar in most of the districts. According to the Met department, 35 districts are under the grip of strong heatwave with the maximum temperature touching 45-degree Celsius in Sheikhpura, Jamui, Patna, Nalanda, Bhojpur, Rohtas Kaimur, Aurangabad and other districts.

Agrawal said that as the humidity is also high in these districts, people are sweating more and losing water from their body, which is one of the major reasons for the high number of fatalities.

People need to drink water, glucose, juice, aam panna and other liquids to maintain fluid in the body, health experts suggested.