57 people die as heat wave sweeps Andhra Pradesh

Student dies while travelling in bus after giving exams

 
By M Suchitra
Published: Friday 24 May 2013

It is not just northern and western parts of India that are in the grip of a severe heat wave. The southern state of Andhra Pradesh is also experiencing severe heatwave conditions. In the past two days, 57 sunstroke deaths have been reported from different districts. Telangana and coastal Andhra regions remain the hardest hit.

How heat affects our body  
 
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Mercury started shooting up in several places since May 21 due to hot winds from the north-west. On Thursday, Palwancha in Khammam district recorded 49°C, the highest in the state. Kothagudem in the same district recorded 48°C, followed by Rentachintala (47.5°C) and Bapatla ( 46.6 °C),  both in Guntur district, and Gannavaram (45.6°C) in Krishna district.

Hyderabad, the capital city, too, was not untouched. At 43. 9°C on May 22, it recorded the season’s highest temperature. The day before, the city's temperature was 41.9°C, which means the temperature rose by 2°C in a span of just 24 hours.

Other areas that recorded high temperature on Thursday were: Nandigama  (45.4°C), Nizamabad (45.6°C), Nellore (44.7°C), Tirupati (43.5°C), Kurnool (43.4°C), Kakinada (43.3°C) and Anantapur (41°C).

A college student, Rakesh Reddy, who was travelling from Warangal to Karim Nagar after his exams, died in the bus, report local newspapers (see graphic on how heat wave affects humans).

Sunstroke deaths in Andhra, district-wise
Nalgonda   13
Khammam   9
East Godavari 7
Warangal     6
Prakasam    7
Karim Nagar   5
Adilabad 3
Krishna   3
Medak   2
Srikakulam   2

The heatwave is expected to be more severe in the next few days. No place in the state has received even isolated summer showers. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a heat warning yesterday. The Met authorities have warned that the blistering heat wave would continue for a few more days, especially in Nellore, Prakasam, Guntur, Krishna-coastal Andhra districts- and Khammam, Adilabad, Warangal, Nalgonda, Nizamabad and Karimnagar-Telangana districts.

The state government would pay compensation of Rs 50,000 to the families of the deceased.

In northern India, heat wave to severe heat wave conditions have been reported in the past week in several states, including parts of Rajasthan and Vidarbha, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Heat wave conditions prevailed over Jammu & Kashmir for a few days and over Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and Marathawada for one or two days of the week.

IMD's weekly bulletin says the highest maximum temperature of 48.5°C was reported at Bikaner (airport) and Churu (Rajasthan) on May 18.

 

 

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