 "Heatwaves")
The unprecedented heatwave in Odisha has claimed 45 more lives in the past 24 hours. With this, the death toll due to severe heat in the state has now reached 141.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that heatwave conditions are likely to continue in five western districts of Bargarh, Balangir, Nuapada, Sonepur, and Kalahandi till Wednesday. But hot and muggy weather will persist in coastal areas until the southwest monsoon arrives in the state, it said.
The Odisha government has confirmed that post-mortem reports indicated that 26 out of the 45 reported deaths within the past day were attributed to heatstroke. Authorities are probing the causes behind the remaining deaths.
In the state, Sundargarh district is one of the most severely affected areas, with reports indicating 35 suspected heat stroke fatalities over the last three days.
“Post-mortem of the bodies are being done. Six deaths have been confirmed due to sunstroke,” Ashutosh Kulkarni, additional district magistrate of Sundargarh, said.
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Sambalpur reported 18 cases of heatwave-linked deaths. The report quoted Sambalpur collector Akshay Sunil Agrawal as saying, “While post-mortem was done on seven, five were confirmed sunstroke. Reports of 11 other cases are awaited.”
The weatherman has said the heatwave conditions in the country will start easing in the next three days.
Centre must declare heatwave a ‘national calamity’: Rajasthan HC
Meanwhile, the Rajasthan High Court has appealed to the Centre to declare heatwave as national calamity as death toll due to extreme heat continues to rise in north India.
The court took suo motu cognisance of the deaths due to heatwave and said that the situation in the country was at a critical stage and that there was a lack of adequate action by authorities to protect people.
“Due to extreme weather conditions in the form of (the) heatwave, hundreds of people have lost their lives this month,” the court said.
It further said, “We do not have a planet B which we can move onto... If we do not take strict action now, we will lose the chance of seeing our future generations flourish forever.”
The single-judge Bench of Justice Anoop Kumar Dhand said the time has come for heat and cold waves to be declared a national disaster.
“Looking at the large number of deaths due to extreme heat and cold waves across the country, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) started working on it. There is a need to declare heatwave and cold wave as a national calamity,” the court said.
The court further issued guidelines for the government aimed at ensuring public safety. These directives include actions such as sprinkling water on roads with significant pedestrian traffic to mitigate heat, installing cooling areas and shelters at necessary traffic junctions, ensuring comprehensive facilities at health centres for treatment of individuals affected by heatwaves, and issuing advisories for outdoor workers, including porters and rickshaw pullers, to permit rest periods between 12 noon and 3 pm during severe heatwave conditions.
(With agency inputs)
