An Indian man pours water on his face during a hot summer day in Hyderabad on Sunday
At least 500 people are reported to have died in a heat wave sweeping India, with temperatures reaching 48C in some areas, the BBC reported yesterday.
Most deaths have taken place in the southern states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, where more than 140 people have died since Saturday.
Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh recorded 48C while temperatures rose to above 44C in the capital, Delhi.
According to the Associated Press, the worst-hit state has been Andhra Pradesh, where more than 100 people have died from the brutal heat in state in the last week, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, the state’s top elected official, told reporters.
Health authorities have asked people not to go outside at midday to avoid getting sunstroke due to high temperatures and blistering winds.
“We are urging people to take all the necessary precautions and drink lots of water,” Naidu said.
Meanwhile, in neighboring Telangana, the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency said the heat wave had killed 186 people in 10 districts, with 58 people dying since Saturday, the BBC noted.
Day temperatures in Telangana’s Khammam district soared to more than 48 degrees Celsius on Saturday.
Roads and markets were deserted in all of the major cities and towns in both provinces, with people staying indoors to avoid the heat.
Furthermore, according to the BBC, the northwestern desert state of Rajasthan has also recorded several deaths due to the heat, the PTI reported, including a woman who collapsed and died on a roadside in Bundi city.
The meteorological department said the sweltering conditions were likely to continue for a few more days.
“No relief” is expected in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Delhi and other northern states for the next four days, and the “heat wave will continue,” an official said.
Reports also said at least 10 people had died of the heat in the eastern state of West Bengal.
Non air-conditioned taxis will be taken off the road for five hours during the day in the main city in the state capital, Kolkata, after two drivers died from heat stroke.
Weather authorities said the high temperatures would likely continue for at least another week. The forecast is for a continuing “heat wave to severe heat wave” for the rest of the month. “It is hot. It will stay hot. People must stay inside and drink lots of water,” Devendra Sharma, an official at the Indian meteorological office was reported as saying by the Guardian.
The highest temperature ever recorded in Delhi was 47.2C, in May 1944. The record India is thought to be 50.6C, recorded in 1956 in the northern town of Alwar.
Authorities said the situation should improve with the approaching monsoon rains, which usually reach the southeastern coast in the first week of June. MDT
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