A minimum of 96 people have died in India’s two most populous states in the past few days, officials said Sunday, with swathes of the country staggering after a sweltering heatwave.
The deaths occurred in northern Uttar Pradesh and eastern Bihar, where authorities warned residents over 60 and others affected by various ailments to remain indoors through the day.
All of the fatalities in Uttar Pradesh, 54 in all, were reported in the Ballia district, about 300 kilometers (200 miles) southeast of Lucknow, the state capital. Authorities learned that most of the dead were over 60 years old and had pre-existing medical conditions which will have been aggravated by the intense heat.
SK Yadav, a medical officer in Ballia, said about 300 patients had been admitted to the county hospital over the past three days for various ailments aggravated by the warmth.
Attributable to the severity of the situation, authorities canceled the leave requests of medical staff in Ballia and provided extra hospital beds in the emergency department to accommodate the influx of patients.
Officials said most of the patients admitted were aged 60 and over, showing symptoms of high fever, vomiting, diarrhea, respiratory difficulties and heart problems.
RS Pathak, a Ballia resident who lost his father on Saturday, said he witnessed an increased flow of patients in the hospital’s emergency department while caring for his father.
“This has never happened in Ballia. I’ve never seen people die from the warmth in such large numbers,” he said. “Individuals are afraid to go outside. The roads and markets are mostly deserted.
Ballia, together with central and eastern Uttar Pradesh, is currently combating oppressive heat.
On Sunday, the district recorded a maximum temperature of 43 degrees Celsius (109 degrees Fahrenheit), five degrees above the traditional range.
Relative air humidity was recorded at 25%, intensifying the impact of the warmth.
Atul Kumar Singh, a scientist on the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), said temperatures across the state were now above normal. He added that “no relief is anticipated in the subsequent 24 hours.”
The IMD has issued a heatwave warning that the heatwave will proceed until June 19 in parts of Uttar Pradesh.
State Health Minister Brijesh Pathak said an investigation had been launched into the reason behind the deaths of “so many individuals” in Ballia.
In eastern Bihar, heat has gripped most of the state, resulting in 42 deaths in the past two days.
Among the many fatalities, 35 occurred at two hospitals in the state capital Patna, where greater than 200 patients affected by diarrhea and vomiting were treated.
Patna recorded a maximum temperature of 44.7 C (113 F) on Saturday.
The essential summer months of April, May and June are generally the warmest in most of India before the monsoon rains bring cooler temperatures.
But temperatures became more intense last decade.
During heatwaves, the country often suffers from severe water shortages, with tens of tens of millions of 1.4 billion people without running water.
A study by World Weather Attribution, an instructional group that studies the sources of utmost heat, has found that April’s scorching heatwave that hit parts of South Asia was triggered by not less than 30 times more likely by climate change.
In April, heat killed 13 people at a government event in India’s financial capital, Mumbai, and prompted some states to shut all schools for every week.