WORLD ASIA INDIA NEWS India Heat Wave Death Toll Tops 2,000

01.06.2015 09:30

The death toll from the blistering heat wave in India exceeded 2,000 on Sunday as weather officials said the sweltering conditions would persist for another four or five days.

Pre-monsoon showers late last week in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states in south India, where the bulk of casualties have occurred, provided some relief as daytime temperatures dropped to normal average levels. But the region remained in the heat wave’s grip Sunday as temperatures hovered between 108 and 113 degrees Fahrenheit, authorities said.

At its hottest on Sunday, Andhra Pradesh was about 113 degrees and Telangana peaked at 109 degrees. Temperatures in the two states peaked at 117 degrees last week.

"The meteorological department has issued a warning of high temperatures for a couple of more days,” P. Tulsi Rani, special commissioner of the disaster-management department in Andhra Pradesh, said Sunday. However, "there should be relief with some rains expected during the next four or five days.”

EARLIER COVERAGE

The heat wave began in mid-April but deaths have accelerated in recent days.

Ms. Rani said 1,636 people have died from heat-related problems in her state during the past week.

Most of those who died are believed to be day laborers or old people suffering from sunstroke or dehydration, authorities said.

The state government in Andhra Pradesh has launched a publicity campaign advising citizens to stay indoors during the day, drink lots of water, use an umbrella and keep their heads and bodies covered to avoid sunstroke. The government has also set up tents or temporary stands where water, as well as buttermilk, is distributed free of charge and people are "encouraged” to drink, Ms. Rani said.

In neighboring Telangana, where 541 have died from the heat in the past week, authorities were using pamphlets and local media to inform people on how to stay safe, said B.R. Meena, a top state official.

Hospitals have been put on alert. But "the heat has definitely come down in the last few days as we have received information about fewer new patients getting admitted with heat stroke,” Mr. Meena said.

In other parts of the country, temperatures as high as 115 degrees continued, with 45 deaths recorded in the eastern state of Orissa, 12 heat-induced fatalities in West Bengal and seven in Ahmedabad city in the western state of Gujarat, state officials said.

ENLARGE

New Delhi recorded a high of 108 degrees on Sunday. Authorities in the city haven’t yet said whether the heat has resulted in any deaths.

Heat waves are on the rise as a result of global climate change, according to the Indian government’s National Disaster Management Authority website. The severe temperatures have a "devastating impact on human health,” the site added.

India’s monsoon rains, which were expected to hit the southern coast of Kerala on Saturday, are likely to be delayed by four or five days, the country’s weather department said.

Rains would help ease temperatures in the south. But it would still take several weeks for the rains to reach the dry northern parts of the country. The monsoon season begins in June, and the rains gradually cover the entire country by September.

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