More than 1,400 die in India's heatwave
More than 1,400 people have died in India over the past months due to a heatwave, the country's officials said on Wednesday.
In the Southeastern state of Andhra Pradesh nearly 900 people have died since 18 May, while in neighbouring Telanga more than 200 people died in the last week, compared with 31 in all of 2014. People from Gujarat, West Bengal and Orissa have also been killed as a consequence of the extreme temperatures.
India’s National Disaster Management Authority said the country had “abnormally high temperatures”, and urged people to drink water and try to avoid going outdoors during the hottest hours.
A spokesman for the Authority also pointed out that climate change had a lot to do with the situation the country was facing.
"The state government has taken up education programs through television and other media to tell people not to venture into the outside without a cap, to drink water and other measures," said P Tulsi Rani, special commissioner for disaster management in the state
India too is feeling the impact of climate change
“India too is feeling the impact of climate change in terms of increased instances of heatwaves which are more intense in nature with each passing year, and have a devastating impact on human health thereby increasing the number of heatwave casualties.”
Forecasters warned that the heatwave will continue, as the country registers temperatures above 50 Celsius degrees. Temperatures are expected to go down once the Monsoon rains season kicks off, expected for the first week of June.
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