Unlike floods and earthquakes which are sudden and unanticipated, heatwaves are an annual phenomena during summer across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. (‘Sunday Anchor’ page – ‘ >Summer of 2015 ’, June 7). Hundreds of precious lives could have been saved had the respective governments educated and alerted the people in advance for which not much need have been spent. All it required was an effort to galvanise the administration. While one Chief Minister speaks of a “golden ( bangaru ) Telangana”, the other Chief Minister talks of a Singapore-like Andhra Pradesh. Do they ever ponder over basic issues?
Kshirasagara Balaji Rao,
Hyderabad
Why do we always wait for a calamity to unfold before debating and evolving a strategy? What is the use of our weather-monitoring satellites if we can’t save our citizens from preventable deaths? A heat stroke is not a new phenomenon. The India of 2015 cannot afford to let its citizens die this way.
Gaurav Singhal,
New Delhi
Vada debba or heat stroke in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana is common in summer. Governments and village/municipal authorities do issue advisories to people on how to protect themselves from the fierce sun — storing a piece of chopped onion in one’s pocket, adequate hydration and finishing chores by 10 a.m. There is also a policy to compensate families of sun stroke victims. Why was all this not highlighted?
Krishnaprasad,
Hyderabad
