{"id":4496,"date":"2015-05-25T12:55:48","date_gmt":"2015-05-25T11:55:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/?p=4496"},"modified":"2015-05-25T12:55:48","modified_gmt":"2015-05-25T11:55:48","slug":"more-than-500-people-die-due-to-heat-wave-in-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/index.php\/more-than-500-people-die-due-to-heat-wave-in-india\/","title":{"rendered":"More than 500 people die due to heat wave in India"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"heat<\/a>More than 500 people have died in two Indian states from a days-long heat wave that has seen temperatures nudging 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit), officials said Monday.
\nOfficials warned the toll was almost certain to rise, with figures still being collected in some parts of the hard-hit Telangana state in the south of the country, and with no end in sight to the searing conditions.
\nLarge parts of India, including national capital New Delhi, have endured days of sweltering heat, prompting fears of power cuts. But the highest temperatures have been recorded in Telangana and neighbouring Andhra Pradesh state.
\nAndhra Pradesh authorities are urging labourers and others not to work long hours in the heat of the day after 246 people died from the high temperatures there in the last week.
\n\u201cThe majority of the victims are people who have been exposed to the sun directly, usually aged 50 and above and from the working classes,\u201d P. Tulsi Rani, special commissioner of Andhra Pradesh\u2019s disaster management department, told AFP.
\nRani said although the deaths started occurring on Monday last week, the number of cases snowballed towards the end of the week after days of scorching heat.
\n\u201cWe are asking them to take precautions like using an umbrella, using a cap, taking a huge quantity of liquids like water and buttermilk, and wearing cotton clothing,\u201d he said.
\nAnother 188 people have died in Telangana, mostly since the middle of last week, although numbers were still being confirmed and were highly likely to rise, D. Vani, an official with the state\u2019s disaster management department, told AFP.
\nHundreds of people, mostly from poorer sections of society, die at the height of summer every year across the country, while tens of thousands suffer power cuts from an overburdened electricity grid.
\n\u201cThe kind of heatwave we are seeing now is slightly higher than normal. The temperatures here have almost touched 48-49 degrees Celsius (118-120 degrees Fahrenheit),\u201d said B. R. Meena, principal secretary of revenue for Telangana.
\nSeveral deaths have also been reported in the northwestern desert state of Rajasthan in recent days including a woman who collapsed and died on the roadside in Bundi city, the Press Trust of India said.
\nIn the eastern city of Kolkata, taxi unions have urged drivers to stay off the roads between 11am and 4pm because of the heat.
\nIndia\u2019s weather bureau warned that \u201cheatwave to severe heatwave conditions would prevail\u201d in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in coming days as well as in the northern states and New Delhi.<\/p>\n

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