Telangana's heat wave death toll shoots up to 219

The death toll due to heat wave in Telangana shot up to 219 as 41 more deaths were reported during last 24 hours, officials said on Tuesday.

As many as 23 deaths were reported from the worst-hit Nalgonda district since Monday. The district now accounts for 76 deaths in the overall toll for the state.

An official in the state disaster management department told IANS that 12 more deaths were reported from Khammam district.

The death toll in Mahabubnagar district stands at 35, followed by Medak at 31, Khammam at 22, Adilabad at 19, Karimnagar at 16, Ranga Reddy 10, Nizamabad nine and Warangal one. No deaths have so far been reported from Hyderabad.

Officials said the deaths were confirmed by three-member committees formed in every 'mandal' to verify the deaths. Each committee, comprising the mandal revenue officer, medical health officer and local sub-inspector of police, conducted an inquiry before confirming if the death occurred due to heat wave or not.

The families of the victims are eligible for a compensation of Rs.50,000 from the government. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao last week directed that families of all victims irrespective of their age be paid the compensation. Earlier, families of victims above 65 years were not eligible for compensation.

Meanwhile, the met department has extended the heat wave warning for two more days. It said many parts of the state are likely to record maximum temperature between 41 and 45 degrees Celsius.

Ramagundam was the hottest place in the state on Tuesday with mercury rising to 46.4 degrees. Mahabubnagar, Hanamkonda, Bhadrachalam and Adilabad also recorded over 44 degrees temperature.

It was between 42 and 42 degrees Celsius in other districts. Hyderabad was relatively better at 41. The weather was cloudy and parts of the city also received rains accompanied by strong winds.

Parts of Telangana continued to receive light rains with squalls under the influence of upper air trough extending from Vidarbha to Comorin across Telangana, said Hyderabad Meteorological Centre.

The met department has also issued heat wave warning for parts of Andhra Pradesh over next two days. It also forecast thunderstorm with squalls at few places.

Parts of coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions recorded temperatures, two to four degrees above normal. The maximum temperature was above 43 at Nandigama and Jangamaheswarapuram in coastal Andhra and at Anantapur and Tirupati in Rayalaseema.

--IANS

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