Nearly 100 die in India amid intense heat as temperatures top 44 degrees Celsius: ‘people fear venturing out’
- Hospitals have been forced to cancel leave for medical personnel and provide additional beds due to the gravity of the situation
- Officials said most patients were older than 60 and were suffering from fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, breathing difficulties and heart-related issues
All the fatalities in Uttar Pradesh, totalling 54, were reported in Ballia district, some 300km (200 miles) southeast of Lucknow, the state capital. Authorities said most of those who died were over 60 years old and had pre-existing health conditions, which may have been exacerbated by the intense heat.
S.K. Yadav, a medical officer in Ballia, said on Sunday that in the past three days, some 300 patients were admitted to the district hospital for various ailments aggravated by heat.
Due to the gravity of the situation, authorities cancelled leave applications of medical personnel in Ballia and provided additional hospital beds in the emergency ward to accommodate the influx of patients.
Officials said most of the admitted patients were aged 60 and above, and were exhibiting symptoms of high fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, breathing difficulties and heart-related issues.
R.S. Pathak, a resident of Ballia who lost his father on Saturday, said that he witnessed an increased flow of patients at the hospital’s emergency ward while attending to his father.
“This has never happened in Ballia. I have never seen people dying because of the heat in such large numbers,” he said. “People fear venturing out. The roads and markets are largely deserted.”
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Ballia, along with central and eastern Uttar Pradesh, is currently grappling with oppressive heat.
On Sunday, the district experienced a maximum temperature of 43 degrees Celsius (109 degrees Fahrenheit), surpassing the normal range by five degrees. The relative humidity was recorded at 25 per cent, intensifying the effect of the heat.
Atul Kumar Singh, a scientist from the India Meteorological Department said temperatures across the state were presently above normal. He added that “no relief is expected in the next 24 hours”.
The department issued an alert saying heatwave conditions would last until June 19 in parts of Uttar Pradesh.
This has never happened … I have never seen people dying because of the heat in such large numbers
The state’s health minister, Brijesh Pathak, said that they have opened an investigation into the cause of death of “so many people” in Ballia.
In eastern Bihar, scorching heat has engulfed most of the state, leading to 42 deaths in the past two days. Among the fatalities, 35 occurred at two hospitals in the state capital of Patna where over 200 patients suffering from diarrhoea and vomiting were being treated.
Patna recorded a maximum temperature of 44.7 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) on Saturday.
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But temperatures have become more intense in the past decade. During heatwaves, the country usually suffers severe water shortages, with tens of millions of its 1.4 billion people lacking running water.
In April, the heat caused the death of 13 people at a government event in India’s financial capital of Mumbai and prompted some states to close all schools for a week.
