Jhansi: Four elderly pilgrims from Tamil Nadu travelling on a train from Agra to Coimbatore in non-AC coaches died allegedly due to extreme heat. They had complained of uneasiness on Monday evening and by the time the train reached Jhansi, three of them had died.
‘‘Heat seems to be a factor," Indian Railways spokesman Ajit Kumar Singh told AFP, "It is really unfortunate". "When the train was approaching Jhansi, we got a call from the on-board staff that one of the passengers is unconscious," Singh said. "We rushed medical staff to the station but they found that three of the passengers were already dead." A fourth person died later in hospital.
Temperatures have hovered around 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) in Jhansi in recent days. Singh said the Kerala Express train had no technical problems, but the tourists were not in air-conditioned coaches. A passenger who was a part of the group that boarded in Agra said the train was stiflingly hot. "Shortly after we left Agra, the heat became unbearable and some people started complaining
of breathing problems and uneasiness," the passenger was quoted as saying by News18 television. This is easily the worst-ever heat wave, with four cities in north India sizzling at a record high. The dubious distinction is shared by the national capital, Churu in Rajasthan and Banda and Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh. All these cities have witnessed temperatures of 48 degrees Celsius and above. Churu, in fact, crossed 50 degrees twice last week -- a whopping 8 degrees above its normal temperature at this time of the year.
Banda is close behind at 49.2 degrees, Allahabad at 48.9. Delhi touched 48 degrees -- a record high for June -- on Monday. The peak power demand in the national capital broke all records of this season on Monday and touched a high of 6686 megawatts. However, rain in the city on Tuesday brought some relief.
A Heat wave is declared when temperature remains at 45 degrees Celsius and above for two days running. It gets a "severe" tag when mercury touches 47 degrees. Heat waves have been becoming increasingly frequent over the last years. Since 2004, the country has experienced 11 of the 15 warmest years.
Last year was the sixth-warmest since 1901. Last week, 11 of the 15 hottest places in the world were located in India, the rest were in neighbouring Pakistan, weather monitoring website El Dorado reported.
- FPJ news service
