Heatwave claims 432 lives in AP, Telangana

Hyderabad: An unprecedented heatwave across coastal Andhra Pradesh (AP) and parts of Telangana has claimed 432 lives. Unofficial estimates, however, said that 807 people, 484 in AP and 323 in Telangana, have died due to the heatwave. 

Vijayawada in AP recorded 47.3° Celsius, the highest in over a decade.The official toll by the Warangal (AP) collectorate for the district was 60 between February 1 and May 10, while the district health department claimed that no one in that list died of heat  stroke.  On the other hand, the local media reported 88 deaths in a matter of a week. The officials could be downplaying the toll because the government is bound to pay Rs 50,000 as ex-gratia to the next of the kin of the deceased under the “Apadbhandhu” scheme in both the states. 

Post-mortem by a doctor of the civil assistant surgeon cadre is required to prove



that a person died due to heat stroke.

Tuni, Machilipatnam and Gannavaram of Krishna district (AP) are still reeling under 46-47° Celsius for the third consecutive day. The temperature in several districts across Telangana remained unchanged except in Khammam, Ramagundam and Nalgonda which recorded 46.1° Celsius on Sunday.

The coal mine belt of Manuguru in Khammam district, Telangana, recorded 49 degrees Celsius with many open cast mines catching fire. Shift timings in these mines have been changed following requests from the employees. According to unofficial estimates, highest number of deaths due to heat stroke was reported from Prakasam (104) district of AP, followed by Guntur (58), Krishna (57) and Nellore (49). 

In Telangana, Nalgonda (68), Warangal (65), Karimnagar (57) and Khammam (45) recorded the highest number of deaths.