169 more die as State turns into inferno

Govt urges Centre to treat sunstroke as natural calamity

• Prakasam sees highest toll of 66
• Guntur accounts for 17 deaths
• Palvancha touches 49 deg C; Vijayawada at 47 deg C, a recordA
• Heat wave will continue for 2 more days
• Govt admits 215 died since April

Hyderabad: With the State turning into an inferno, 169 people, mostly aged, succumbed to the effects of severe summer on Saturday. More deaths have been predicted as the Met office has warned of continuation of heat wave conditions in the State for two more days. The maximum temperature is likely to go up by seven degrees. Vijayawada had a high 47 degrees C, a record in a decade. The severity of heat is attributed to the blowing of winds from Western India, particularly UP, Odisha, Chattisgarh. Its impact is likely to be felt more in the Coastal Andhra and Telangana regions. While the coalmine area of Palvancha in Khammam district recorded 49 degrees Celsius, Guntur recorded a high of 48 degrees C. Guntur accounted for 18 sunstroke deaths, followed by 13 each in East Godavari and Prakasam, while Krishna had ten deaths. While Rentachintala was virtually burning at 47.3 deg C, Bapatla, Machilipatnam, Vijayawada recorded 47 deg C. Kakinada, Hanamkonda, Ramagundam had a maximum temperature of 46 deg C. Kavali, Nandigama, Narsapur, Ongole, Nalgonda had 45 deg C, while in Nizamabad the temperature was 44 deg C.

The other temperatures recorded elsewhere were: Nellore (43.5), Adilabad, Mahabubabad, Medak, Kurnool and Kadapa (43), Tirupati (42), Hyderabad (42.4), Hakimpet (42) and Tuni (41). The Met office warned that the maximum temperature may go up by two degrees on Sunday in Nellore, Prakasam, Guntur, Krishna and the Godavari districts. The State Government said on Saturday that 215 persons died since April. Adilabad, Karimnagar and Khammam accounted for more deaths than other districts together. Disaster Management Commissioner T Radha said the heat wave conditions were likely to continue till the onset of the south-west monsoon. He informed that the government had requested the Centre to consider the heat wave deaths as natural calamity. Meanwhile, M Shashidhar Reddy, MLA, Chairman of the National Disaster Management Commission, said on Saturday that the State government should provide relief to the sunstroke victims. The Centre would consider providing compensation to the victims' families if the State submitted proposals. Sunstroke deaths would be added to the Central guidelines on Disaster Relief Fund, he added.