Hundreds Die of Heatwave in India
Hundreds of Indians have died during weeks of extreme weather as a heatwave hits the country, reported Yahoo!news. An Indian court called on the government to declare a national emergency over a heatwave in India which pushed temperatures in several cities to above 45 degrees Celsius.
The country did not reveal nationwide figures for deaths resulting from the heatwave but the eastern state of Bihar said Friday at least 14 people died due to heat stroke the previous day.
The High Court in the western state of Rajasthan said that “Due to extreme weather conditions in the form of (the) heatwave, hundreds of people have lost their lives this month”.
“We do not have a planet B which we can move onto… If we do not take strict action now, we will lose the chance of seeing our future generations flourish forever.”
The court called on the government to provide compensation funds for relatives of any person who dies as a result of heat.
Relatives of the heat victims told AFP that the state’s hospitals were struggling to cope with the influx of patients.
“The air conditioning in the emergency ward wasn’t functioning on Thursday when dozens of patients were being admitted,” said Naresh Kumar Singh from Gaya, one of the state’s worst-affected districts.
Among the deaths were 10 poll workers who were preparing for the last day of voting, a news release from the state’s disaster management office said.
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