Weatherman has warned of heat wave in the city on Saturday and healthcare professionals asked people to take precautions against a host of afflictions including heatstroke that could strike when mercury soars.
On Friday, the city recorded 41.5 degree Celsius for the second consecutive day after the maximum temperature of 43 degrees Celsius, the highest recorded a couple of days ago in over four decades for April.
That such temperatures are recorded even before summer peaks, has physicians worried. Public and private hospitals in the city are treating a steady stream of arrivals with heatstroke symptoms that doctors say is preventable.
Five cases a day“We are now seeing up to five persons a day with heatstroke symptoms including vomiting and increased temperatures,” said Fever Hospital Superintendent K. Shankar. He added that the number of persons coming with food poisoning, jaundice, diphtheria and chicken pox was also high.
Heatstroke can be fatal if untreated. The body’s temperature-regulating mechanism fails to control the rising internal temperature when persistently exposed to high external temperature in the range of 40 to 45 degree Celsius, which when combined with severe dehydration, can result in extreme electrolyte loss.
Heart disturbancesFrom renal failure to electrical conduction disturbances of heart, several organs including the brain can be affected, resulting in multi-organ failure, says Gandhi Hospital doctor Narasimulu.
A study published earlier this year in the International Journal of Medical Research Professionals found that nearly 15 per cent of all deaths caused due to natural calamities in India between 2001 and 2012 could be attributed to heatstroke. Last summer, heatstroke reportedly killed over 2,300 in AP and Telangana alone.
Nine deathsThe latest report on deaths made available to Telangana Government from districts on Wednesday claims nine deaths until now; eight in Mahbubnagar and one in Adilabad due to heatstroke. Various reports have claimed a higher number including a few in the city.
However, officials of Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy district administrations maintain no deaths had occurred that can exclusively be attributed to prevailing weather conditions.
Power consumptionRising temperatures have also stretched the power supply and distribution network. The city’s consumption touched 54.96 million units or 2530 MW on Thursday, the highest ever recorded. Last summer, the city consumed 53.8 million units on May 26.
“The power demand is expected to rise further by a million units or more in the coming days. We are however prepared to handle as much as 58 million units,” said TSSPDCL Director of Operations J. Srinivas Reddy.
He added that reduced power consumption of the agriculture sector is helping meet the increased demands of domestic sector.
