 "Heatwaves")
The unprecedented heatwave in India has claimed over 45 lives in the past 36 hours. With this, the death toll due to heatwave across the country has reached 87.
As many as 19 more people died of heatstroke in western Odisha, 16 in Uttar Pradesh in a single day, while five succumbed to the high temperatures in Bihar, four in Rajasthan, and one in Punjab in one day.
On Friday, India reported at least 40 suspected heat-related deaths, 25 of them of staff deployed on Lok Sabha elections duty in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, as heatwave conditions gripped a large swathe of the country. According to officials, heat-related deaths were reported from Odisha (10), Bihar (8), Jharkhand (4) and Uttar Pradesh (1) on Thursday. Rajasthan has reported at least five heat-related deaths so far.
Deaths in Odisha
In Odisha, as many as 19 deaths occurred on Thursday and Friday, taking the death toll over the past 48 hours to 29.
Of the 29 deaths, 12 were reported from Sundargarh and nine from Jharsuguda. Sambalpur reported seven deaths, while another person died in Bargarh. Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Satyabrata Sahu said all these deaths are being investigated to check whether heatstroke was the cause.
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As many as 12 fatalities were recorded in Sundargarh, with nine in Jharsuguda, seven in Sambalpur, and one in Bargarh, bringing the total victims to 29. Satyabrata Sahu, the Special Relief Commissioner, stated that inquiries are underway to determine if heatstroke was a contributing factor in these deaths.
Of the nine who died in Jharsuguda, seven were truck drivers passing through the industrial town while transporting minerals.
Deaths in Uttar Pradesh
In Uttar Pradesh, 11 of the 16 people who lost their lives during the heatwave on Friday, were polling personnel. Among the polling personnel, eight, including five home guards, died in Mirzapur, while two polling staff died in Sonbhadra and one in Rae Bareli.
Mirzapur Medical College Principal RB Kamal said, “We recorded 13 deaths, including those of eight polling personnel, due to heatstroke on Friday. All the victims had medical complications, including high fever, high blood pressure, and diabetes. The victims were in the 50-plus age group. The exact cause of death will be known after postmortem reports come, but prima facie it looks like heatstroke aggravated their existing medical issues, resulting in deaths.”
Deaths in Bihar
In Bihar, Friday’s five deaths took the toll to 14, including 10 polling personnel, in the last 24 hours, officials said on Friday. With four deaths on Friday, Rajasthan has witnessed nine heatstroke deaths this summer.
High temperatures recorded in Delhi, Nagpur
Just days after Delhi experienced record-breaking heat at 52.9 degrees Celsius, the temperature in Nagpur On Thursday reached a whopping 56 degrees Celsius.
Two of the four automatic weather stations (AWS) set up by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) in Nagpur recorded unusually high temperatures, exceeding 50 degrees Celsius, surpassing even the Mungeshpur AWS in North-West Delhi, which recorded high temperatures on Wednesday.
When is a heatwave declared?
A heatwave is declared over a region “when the actual maximum temperature remains 45 degrees Celsius or more irrespective of the normal maximum temperature,” the Centre states.
According to the IMD, a heatwave is declared “if the maximum temperature of a station reaches at least 40 degrees Celsius or more for plains, 37 degrees Celsius or more for coastal stations, and at least 30 degrees Celsius or more for hilly regions” for two or more days.
Extreme temps recorded across the globe in the past
In July 2022, the UK witnessed temperatures crossing 40 degrees Celsius for the first time. A town in northwest China recorded 52 degrees Celsius last year, the highest ever for the country. In 2021, Italy's Sicily recorded 48.8 degrees Celsius, the highest ever for Europe.
Monsoon to bring some respite
As the monsoon set in over Kerala on Thursday, two days ahead of its normal date, and has advanced into most parts of Northeast India, it is expected to bring some relief from the high temperatures being recorded across India.
Weather scientists said cyclone Remal, which swept through West Bengal and Bangladesh on Sunday, redirected the monsoonal flow towards the Bay of Bengal, potentially contributing to the early onset of the monsoon over the northeast.
In a bulletin, the IMD stated, "Southwest monsoon has set in over Kerala and advanced into most parts of Northeast India today, May 30, 2024."
(With agency inputs)
