Severe heat wave grips north, northwest India

NEW DELHI, May 27 (Xinhua) -- The mercury has been hovering at nearly 50 degrees Celsius in parts of north and northwest India for the past couple of days.

Schools in Gurugram city, adjacent to Delhi, were shut for the next five days as a precautionary measure.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the severe heat wave was prevailing in the states of Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and western parts of Uttar Pradesh, and was most likely to continue for the next couple of days.

As a precautionary measure to save children from the inclement weather, schools up to eighth standard were shut down in Gurugram, a city adjacent to Delhi but a part of Haryana state.