Mumbai: Killer heat has been taking its toll. From March 15 to April 30, four people have died of heatstroke and 244 have been hospitalised in Nagpur, Akola, Latur and other districts of central and eastern Maharashtra. The four deaths were confirmed by the public health department on April 28. These deaths have been reported from Aurangabad, Parbhani, Beed and Dhule districts. At 103, the most number of hospitalisations have been reported from Akola.
Nagpur follows with 99 cases while Latur, Aurangabad and Nashik have 32, 4 and 6 cases of hospitalisation respectively. Last year, in the same period, 538 people had to be hospitalised while two had died of heatstroke. Dr Pradeep Awate, the state surveillance officer, said, he has attributed the cause of the deaths to the sudden heatwave.
“Heatstroke is caused by overheating of the body, with temperature rising to 40 degrees Celsius or above, usually due to prolonged exposure to heat or physical exertion in high temperatures,” said Dr Awate. Officials have said average temperatures have risen to 42-46 degrees Celsius. From April 11, the changing wind patterns and surface heating during the day have resulted in many areas in south-central
Maharashtra, Konkan and isolated areas of central Maharashtra experiencing light rain and thundershowers in the evenings, leading to a marginal drop in temperatures. These fluctuations in temperatures have caused more health problems. Senior health officials said that the high-risk pockets are mainly in Vidarbha as the temperatures in this region have crossed 40 degrees Celsius. “The northern part of
Maharashtra has recorded temperatures beyond 40 degrees Celsius in the last few days, which has caused a rise in heatstroke cases. The continuing heatwave in these parts of the state has been caused due to strong westerly winds,” said Dr Awate. He further said, they are receiving weekly weather updates from the India Meteorological Department (IMD), on the basis of which they have been sending advisories to the affected districts.
“In the primary and secondary public hospitals, we have created air-conditioned rooms for patients of heatstroke. We have advised the residents to avoid stepping out from noon to 3pm and asked them to reduce the intake of carbonated drinks, alcohol, tea and coffee, which reduce water levels in the body,” he added.
