According to collectors’ reports, four persons died due to heat stroke in Jayashankar Bhupalpally district and three each were in Warangal Urban, Karimnagar and Nizamabad districts.
Hyderabad: The intense summer heat has claimed 16 lives across seven districts, according to reports submitted by district collectors, prompting the government to intensify emergency measures amid forecasts of worsening temperatures over the next three days. The government also announced an ex gratia of Rs.4 lakh for the families of each of the dead.
Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, at an emergency review meeting with senior officials following the India Meteorological Department’s warning of severe heatwave conditions, directed the administrative machinery to remain on high alert and ensure that people do not face any hardship.
According to collectors’ reports, four persons died due to heat stroke in Jayashankar Bhupalpally district and three each were in Warangal Urban, Karimnagar and Nizamabad districts. One death each was reported from Jogulamba Gadwal, Rangareddy and Suryapet districts.
Responding to the reports, Srinivas Reddy announced that the state government would provide an ex gratia compensation of `4 lakh each to the families of heatwave victims as per the directions of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy. He instructed officials to complete the compensation process on a priority basis.
The minister said temperatures were reaching abnormal levels due to the severe El Nino conditions — heating of the waters of the Pacific Ocean — and warned that the impact of heatwaves was likely to intensify further. He stressed that there should be no negligence in protecting human lives and directed officials to identify mandals and villages recording extremely high temperatures and issue advance warnings to residents through media, social media and village-level announcements.
Srinivas Reddy instructed officials to ensure the availability of cool drinking water, buttermilk and ORS packets at bus stands, markets, major roads, labour-intensive work sites and crowded public places. He appealed to elderly people, pregnant women, children and those suffering from illnesses to avoid venturing outdoors between 11 am and 4 pm unless absolutely necessary.
Precautions should be taken for agricultural labourers, construction workers and road workers exposed to direct sunlight, he said. District collectors were asked to personally monitor the heatwave situation and ensure that officials from mandal to village level remain in the field. Emergency medical services should be kept ready to provide immediate treatment to anyone showing symptoms of heat stroke, he added.
Srinivas Reddy also called for arrangements of water tanks and earthen pots in villages and towns to provide drinking water for birds and animals, stating that protecting all living beings was equally important during the summer.
