NEW DELHI – The official death toll from a scorching heatwave across India rose to more than 2,300 on Monday even as scattered rain brought little relief from soaring temperatures.
Eighty-four more people died in the worst-affected southern states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where the combined death toll stood at 2,261, disaster management officials said.
More than 60 deaths were reported from Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat states, as well as the national capital, New Delhi, local reports said.
Rains on the weekend brought down temperatures in certain areas but weather officials say the heatwave would ease only after more rains in the next three to four days.
Doubts have however been raised over the death toll in Andhra Pradesh, where officials said 1,677 people had died.
The number of deaths reported to local authorities had almost doubled after Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu announced a compensation of 100,000 rupees ($1,570) for the kin of victims, the Indian Express daily reported.
State disaster chief Jagdish Chandra Sharma said only about 600 casualties had been certified to have been caused by heat.
He said a three-member panel was set up in every district to investigate and detect genuine cases following the doubling in reported deaths after the relief announcement.
“It is not possible to confirm about the deaths soon after they are reported; scores of such casualties are taking place everyday,” Sharma said by phone from state capital Hyderabad.
The heatwave in India is the fifth deadliest in the world and second deadliest in India after one in 1998 that claimed 2,541 lives, according to the Emergency Events Database, an international disasters database.
India’s monsoon rains – which were expected to start Monday – have been delayed by two days and would hit the southern coast of Kerala by Wednesday.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
