Searing heat claims dozens of lives in T’gana, Odisha

Most parts of the country sweltered under a blazing sun today with heat wave claiming dozens of lives in Telangana and Odisha this season even as the weatherman predicted further increase in temperature. Heat wave has so far claimed 35 lives in Telangana, according to an official report on Wednesday, while in Odisha, 30 people reportedly died of sunstroke. In the national capital, it was a hot day with the mercury soaring up to 41 degrees Celsius, four notches above normal for this time of the year. “The maximum temperature was recorded at 41 degrees Celsius, four notches above normal while the minimum settled at 24 degrees Celsius, three notches above season’s average,” a MeT official said. Heatwave has started to grip parts of peninsular India including Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Marathwada, Vidarbha and isolated pockets of Karnataka.

“Temperatures have been above the 40 degree mark at several places. For instance, Titlagarh in Odisha recorded its maximum at 45 degrees Celsius, and Nalgonda in Andhra Pradesh sizzled at 44 degrees Celsius. Also, Hyderabad observed its maximum at 43 degrees Celsius which is the highest in 43 years,” said private weather forecasting agency Skymet. Heat wave continued to sweep across Odisha with the mercury crossing the 45 degrees mark in some places. Though the mercury level declined in the coastal belt including Bhubaneswar which recorded 40.2 degrees Celsius, the entire western region of the state was on the boil.

Though the unofficial death toll due to sunstroke remained at 30, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) P K Mohapatra said, “Of the total 30 alleged heat wave related death reports received by the government, five were examined by the district collectors and they found the reason of deaths to be sunstroke.” 

Heat wave condition also prevailed in the districts of south Bengal as the Met Department forecast a similar condition for the next two days. Bankura district recorded 43.6 degrees Celsius, the day’s highest temperature in West Bengal, while Kolkata was a notch lower than Wednesday at 40.0 degrees. Heat wave is likely to prevail in Telangana for the next two days. In Telangana, the state government has issued alerts in all districts.