Several students at the primary school were seen playing in the artificial swimming pool
With temperatures touching 40 degrees Celsius, a school in Uttar Pradesh's Kannauj has converted a classroom into a swimming pool for students to battle scorching temperature heat.
The step was taken after many children were forced to stay home as heatwave broke temperature records.
In the videos shared with NDTV, several students at a primary school in the Mahsaunapur village can be seen playing in the artificial swimming pool in the classroom, which looked like a two-feet water tank.
"The mercury level has been between 38 to 40 degrees Celsius for the past few. This has reduced the number of children in the school drastically," the school's principal Vaibhav Rajput said.
"But after a classroom of the school was filled with water, children started coming. They are now studying and are also getting relief from the heat by swimming," Mr Rajput, who is known for his interesting ideas in the village, said.
Intense Heat Across India
Large swathes of India have been reeling from scorching heat with maximum temperatures soaring to 45 degrees Celsius on Monday.
Intensely hot conditions are expected in east India until May 1 and the south peninsular region over the next five days, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Monday.
The weather office also issued a red colour warning and said that extreme heat could scorch parts of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Odisha over the next two to three days. An orange colour warning is already in place for parts of Telangana, Karnataka and Sikkim.
People in areas where a red colour warning has been issued could develop heat illness and heatstroke and suggested taking extreme care. In orange-colour warning areas, there is a likelihood of heat illness in people who are either exposed to the sun for a prolonged period or doing heavy work.
The increasing heat is coinciding with the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections, which began on April 19 and will continue till June 1.