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The fatalities due to the heatwave in Uttar Pradesh's Ballia district has risen to 68 since June 15, with temperatures soaring up to 43.5 degree Celsius in the region.
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday chaired a high-level meeting to review public health preparedness amid the prevailing heatwave conditions across the country.
Mandaviya said that a five-member team, comprising senior officials from the health ministry, and the India Meteorological Department (IMD), will visit states that are worst affected by the heatwave.
He informed that the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has been ordered to recommend measures to minimise the adverse effect of heatwave conditions.
A committee, led by K N Tiwari (Director of Medical Care) and A K Singh (Director of Infectious Diseases), visited villages in Bansdih and Garwar development blocks which reported maximum casualties. They met with the family members of some of the deceased to study if a certain pattern may be spotted.
Singh said that some of the deceased were unwell for a long time but what remains undeniable is the high heat and humidity levels in the villages.
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He added that there were power outages in the villages which worsened the situation.
He informed that additional air coolers have been put up in the wards of the district hospital where some patients had complained of facing unbearable heat.
Officials from Lucknow said that they haven’t yet found a “strong link” between the incident and high temperatures in the region.
CM Yogi holds meeting
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also held a high-level meeting to review the situation in the state, and gave necessary guidelines, said a statement from the Chief Minister's Office.
"The effect of a heatwave is being seen in various districts of the state for the last few days. In such a situation, concrete arrangements should be made at every level for the protection of common life, livestock and wildlife," Yogi said.
He instructed officials to set up 'pyaus' (places for drinking water) at public places in all municipal bodies/rural areas.
According to the IMD, heatwave conditions persisted over east Uttar Pradesh since June 12.
The agency said that the mercury in the city is expected to go below 40 degrees Celsius after June 22.
Why do heatwaves cause deaths?
When high temperatures combine with high humidity, heatwaves can become fatal.
For instance, in Mumbai this year, 13 people died from a heatstroke while attending a government function in an open space. Though the city was not experiencing heatwave conditions, experts said that high humidity levels could have been one of the reasons behind the deaths.
A similar thing may have happened in Ballia. According to the IMD, the relative humidity in Ballia on June 18 was 31 per cent (at 5:30 pm) and the maximum temperature was 43.5 degrees Celsius. This means that the Heat Index (HI) touched 51 degree Celsius, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) HI calculator. Such conditions could severely impact humans, sometimes becoming fatal, according to a report in The Indian Express.
Joy Merwin Monteiro, assistant professor at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, told The Indian Express, “Humans lose heat generated within their bodies by producing sweat that evaporates on the skin. The cooling effect of this evaporation is essential in maintaining a stable body temperature.”
Monteiro said that as humidity rises, sweat does not evaporate and thus makes it difficult to regulate body temperature. This could cause a heat stroke, which takes place only when the body temperature goes above 40 degrees Celsius, he explained.
Excessive heat increases metabolic activity in the body, which causes a drop in blood pressure and oxygen levels. This situation is called hypoxia. Prolonged exposure to moderate heat with poor hydration levels in these circumstances, can lead to hypoxia. Individuals with pre-existing metabolic disorders such as diabetes, the obese or the elderly, are more vulnerable.
