Intense heat in south India may have caused 92 deaths in the State, which are being examined by the Telangana government before they can be certified eligible for compensation.
The Telangana government constituted three-member committees for every district to inquire into deaths attributed to the heat. The committees, comprising doctors, would certify whether a death is due to heat, making the family eligible for compensation from the government. This year, the number of deaths being attributed to heat wave has been higher in Khammam and Mahabubnagar than in other districts.
The number of reported deaths has shot up in the last two weeks. The only time heat wave was declared by India Meteorological Department, the Indian government’s weather services wing, was on April 16 and 17. Until then, about 37 deaths had been reported.
In the days since, daily maximum has consistently remained above 41 degreed Celsius at most places across the State, with some respite last week and early this week. The IMD predicts that day temperature would hover around 40 degrees Celsius during rest of the week in Hyderabad.
On Tuesday, Hyderabad recorded a maximum of 38.6 degrees Celsius, the lowest the city has seen in the last one month. Other parts of the State too saw a considerable reduction in daily maximum temperature on Tuesday. Adilabad recorded 41.9 degrees Celsius, the highest maximum in Telangana.
Some western and northern areas of the State witnessed light isolated rainfall which the weatherman attributed to winds bringing in moisture from the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. During pre-monsoon days in May, the State usually witnesses slight to moderate rainfall starting late afternoon. However, on May 6 last year, Hyderabad received a record rainfall of 75.4 mm which brought the city to a halt. Last summer also saw strong winds pull down several trees and plunge many areas into darkness due to uprooted electric poles.
