Killer heat claims 165 more lives in AP, Telangana; toll 500

TNN

The scorching summer continued to claim lives in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, with as many as 165 more deaths reported on Sunday, even as the soaring mercury broke records in other parts of India.

The sunstroke toll in the two states has now touched 500. And, there is likely to be no early respite from the killer heat as India Meteorological Department extended the severe heat wave warning in AP and Telangana by three more days.

 

In AP government’s first admission of heat-related deaths, state health minister Kamineni Srinivas said 62 people died of sunstroke on Sunday. Unofficial reports on the other hand have put the day’s toll in AP at 93 and Telangana 72. The region’s highest temperature of 47 degree Celsius was recorded at Machilipatnam and Tuni in AP.

 

Elsewhere, blazing temperatures across cities made Sunday the hottest day in Uttar Pradesh in five years. In Odisha, nine cities recorded temperatures above 45 degrees. It was 40 degrees at Pachmarhi, Madhya Pradesh’s highest spot at 1,100 metres above sea level, a staggering 10 degrees above normal.

 

As the toll continued to mount by the day, the AP and Telangana governments issued a public warning directing people to drink lots of fluids and approach the nearest hospital in case of any symptoms of sunstroke. They have also issued instructions to administration in the districts to keep oral rehydration solutions and intra-venous fluids at all railway and bus stations to provide emergency medicare to passengers.

 

Ironically, the disaster management departments in both the states remained silent on the actual sunstroke toll. Officials said they are busy collecting data from the field level staff. Vernacular media, with a large network of stringers in villages, have put the Sunday’s toll in the two states at over 270.

 

Reports of vehicles catching fire due to intense heat have come in from a few places in Telangana. Karimnagar led the toll in Telangana with 19 deaths followed by Nalgonda and Khammam with 10 each, Warangal eight, Mahbubnagar and Adilabad seven each, Medak six, Nizamabad three, and Hyderabad and Rangareddy one each.

 

In Andhra Pradesh, the worst hit was Nellore with 22 deaths. Prakasam reported 19 followed by Vizianagaram 11, Krishna 10, Kadapa and West Godavari six each, Guntur four, Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam, and Anantapur three each, and East Godavari, Chittoor and Kurnool two each.

 

 

As UP recorded its hottest day in five years, capital Lucknow saw a maximum temperature of 44.7 degree Celsius, which is the highest ever recorded there in the month of May.

 

Allahabad continued to be the hottest place in the state with a maximum temperature of 47.7 degree Celsius, up from 47 on Saturday. Banda recorded 46.6 degrees and Sultanpur 46, while it was 45.5 degrees in Varanasi, Agra and Bareilly. The state Met department warned that heat wave conditions would continue on Monday and Tuesday.

 

In MP, international tourist destination Khajuraho sizzled as the day temperature touched 47 degree Celsius. For the past week, mercury has been hovering around 45 degrees Celsius here.

 

 

Meanwhile, BSF sources said temperatures had touched a fiery 50 degree Celsius in some border outposts in Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer and Barmer districts - regarded as among the hottest places in India. The Met department did not confirm the readings. BSF jawans have been asked to store lots of water at their posts.

 

Officially, the hottest town in Rajasthan was Sriganganagar, where 45.6 degree Celsius was recorded. Jaipur, the state capital, woke up to the hottest morning of the season with the minimum temperature reading 30.8 degree Celsius, almost 5 degrees above the normal.

 

Odisha continued to reel under blistering heat, with Bhubaneswar recording its hottest day in the past decade. The maximum temperature there was 45.1 degree Celsius.

 

Shimla, a popular summer getaway, witnessed its highest temperature of the season at 29.2 degree Celsius.