According to Met experts, temperatures above 40 degree Celsius and long periods of heat wave conditions are normally witnessed in May. In various parts of the country, the schools are being closed to save children from the scorching sun.
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Monsoon rain is feared to still be weeks away.
The highest maximum temperature of 46 deg Celsius was recorded at Ramagundam in Telangana and 44 deg Celsius was recorded at Anantapur and Jangamaheswarapuram in Andhra Pradesh.
This year Orissa’s capital, Bhubaneshwar, and Maharashtra’s city of Nagpur joined Gujarat’s Ahmedabad in launching a heatwave programme to educate people on how to stay cool, provide shelters and train medical workers on dealing with heat-related illnesses such as sunstroke and dehydration. The schools in Telangana were also shut last week.
The heat has also forced the closure of schools in Orissa until at least April 26, the AP reported. And everywhere, people are being urged to stay indoors during the hottest hours of the day. April and May tend to be the hottest months of the year in India, right before the wet phase of the Asian monsoon, according to weather.com senior meteorologist Jon Erdman. The authorities have taken emergency steps to help minimize the effects of the extreme heat.
Y.K. Reddy, a director at the Indian Meteorological Department, said Telangana has recorded its highest April temperatures since at least 2006.
Reddy further warned that the death toll in Telangana is expected to rise, and meteorological officials have advised local residents to stay indoors.
The forecast for Odisha, where at least 66 people have died due to the searing heat, was ominous too. Water levels at several reservoirs are running at low levels, threatening to hurt power generation services. The industries shall have limited water resource.
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Indian broadcaster NDTV says a 12-year-old girl in Maharashtra state died from the heat while fetching water. A year ago, a heat wave killed some 2,300 people in those two states, Time.com said.
