Soaring temperatures have gripped parts of southern and northern
India in an extreme heat wave which has killed more than 500 people and
looks set to continue this week, officials said on Monday.
The hottest place in India was Allahabad, a city in the northern
state of Uttar Pradesh, which saw mercury rise to 47.7 degrees Celsius
(117.8 Fahrenheit) on Sunday, while the capital Delhi recorded a high of
43.5C (110.3F).
Most of the 539 recorded deaths have been of construction workers,
the elderly or the homeless in the southern states of Andhra Pradesh and
Telangana, said officials, but some deaths have also occurred in Uttar
Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal.
The Indian Meteorological Department has issued a red warning to
affected regions saying that the heat wave conditions are likely to
continue over coming days.
Director of Andhra Pradesh’s Disaster Management Department K.
Dhananjaya Reddy said 325 people had died of sunstroke or dehydration in
the state in the last three days.
“We are advising people not to go to work between 10 a.m.
to 4 p.m.,” said Reddy. “We have also opened centers in different
places specially in urban areas for the distribution of water and b*tter
milk.”
The government has canceled the leave of all doctors as hospitals
were being flooded with cases of heat-stroke, he said, adding that
compensation of 100,000 rupees ($1,575) will be given to families of
people who had died.
While in the neighboring state of Telangana, where 204 people have
died, officials have advised people to stay indoors during peak
afternoon hours, drink plenty of fluids and wear loose clothing.
Taxi drivers in Kolkata – capital of West Bengal state where four
deaths have been reported – refused to work between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.
after two cabbies died in their cars last week.