Heat waves claim 81 lives in Uttar Pradesh in 24 hours
Lucknow: The heat wave is proving deadly in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh as during the last 24 hours, a total of 81 people died due to heat waves in different districts of the state, while a large number of patients are admitted to hospitals.
According to Kashmir Media Service, there has been a significant increase in heat stroke cases in the month of June. Long queues of patients are seen in hospitals. Considering the number of beds, only critical patients are being admitted.
According to the data released by Uttar Pradesh Health Department, 13 people have died due to heat wave in Kanpur alone, 12 in Fatehpur, 9 in Chitrakoot, 6 in Annan, 4 in Banda, 6 in Orai, 1 each in Etawah and Bareilly, 1 each in Prayagraj and Kaushambi districts and 4 in Pratapgarh have died due to heat wave.
A total of 23 people lost their lives in Varanasi, Ghazipur, Mirzapur, Chandoli, Jaunpur, Ballia and Sonbhadar.
According to the Meteorological Department, there is no sign of relief from the heat wave for the next four days and a red alert has been issued regarding the heat wave in most of the districts of the state.
Meanwhile, India recorded over 40,000 heatstroke cases this summer as a prolonged heat wave killed more than 100 people across the country, authorities said.
Billions across Asia are grappling with extreme heat this summer in a trend scientists say has been worsened by human-driven climate change, with temperatures in north India soaring to almost 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) in one of the longest heat wave spells recorded.
Birds fell from the skies due to extreme heat and hospitals reported an inflow of heat-affected patients as both day and night time temperatures peaked in recent weeks since the start of summer in March.
The health ministry ordered federal and state institutions to ensure “immediate attention” to patients, while hospitals in the capital Delhi, which is also facing a water shortage, were directed to make more beds available.
A health ministry official said there were more than 40,000 suspected heat stroke cases and at least 110 confirmed deaths between March 1 and June 18, when northwest and eastern India recorded twice the usual number of heatwave days.
The weather office has forecast above normal temperatures for this month too, as authorities say Indian cities have become “heat traps” due to unbalanced growth.
“During the ongoing heat wave, most bird rescue calls that we receive are due to birds falling from the skies,” said Kartick Satyanarayan, co-founder and CEO of non-profit Wildlife SOS.
“In the past two weeks, Wildlife SOS has been receiving more than 35-40 rescue calls daily, in and around Delhi-National Capital Region. Most of the calls include bird rescue requests.” Separately, floods and landslides triggered by incessant rain in the northeastern state of Assam killed at least six people on Tuesday night, officials said.
“A landslide buried a woman and her three daughters alive,” a state disaster management official, Siju Das, said by telephone.
“Their house was on a slope, and they died on the spot around midnight,” he said, adding that the bodies were retrieved after a three-hour search operation by rescuers.
In Assam, more than 160,000 people were affected, with waters surpassing the danger level in the Kopili, one of the largest tributaries of the Brahmaputra, which ranks among India’s biggest rivers.
More than 30 people in the state have died since the end of May in floods and landslides brought by heavy rain, officials said.
