Indian heat wave death toll hits 765

Sunstroke and dehydration claimed another 130 lives in a southern Indian state, raising the death toll from a two-week heat wave to 765, a relief official said today.

Temperatures rose as high as 47.9 degrees C (118.2 F) and meteorologists promised no relief from the heat wave for another two days in Andhra Pradesh state, said DC Roshaiah, the state’s chief relief official.

Last year, a heat wave killed more than 1,000 people in the state, most of them elderly and unable to bear temperatures which reached up to 50 C (122 F).

Hundreds of people were being treated for dehydration and sunstroke, complaining of high fevers and vomiting, at hospitals in 20 of the 23 districts in the state lashed by dry hot winds, Roshaiah said.

“The exposure to intense heat wave and unclean drinking water were playing havoc with people’s lives,” said Dasrath, the medical superintendent of a government-run hospital in Bhongir, a town 50 kilometres (30 miles) north-east of Hyderabad, the state capital.

The Nalgonda district was the worst hit with 131 deaths.

At least 114 deaths have been reported in Guntur, 106 in West Godavari, 103 in East Godavari, 98 in Prakasham and 44 in Krishna, Roshiah said.

Another 169 deaths have been reported in 14 other districts.

Patients crowded the government hospital in Ramanpet, a town 70 kilometres (44 miles) north-east of the state capital, with many lying on beds in the corridors.

“We have run out of fluids to be administered to these patients and authorities are rushing supplies,” said Kotaiah Naik, in charge of the hospital. “We have been receiving at least 40 patients with sunstroke every day for the past 15 days.”

The heat has also taken a toll on the state’s poultry industry, with at least 1.4 million chickens dying.

The Andhra Pradesh Poultry Federation reported that the export of eggs from the state has fallen 33% from 20 million eggs per day to 12.5 million. Andhra Pradesh is the main supplier of eggs to other parts of the country.

Agriculture has also been severely affected because of acute water shortages.