High temperatures in India have been unimpeded as more than 1,100 people died as a result of the heat. Officials announced on Wednesday the amount of victims from this month's heat.
A lack of monsoon rains has caused the heat to increase, and residents in parts of India are suffering from heat as high as 122 degrees Fahrenheit in some places. A majority of the deaths came from the state of Andhra Pradesh in southeastern India. Some 850 people died in that state alone. In Telangana, which is next to Andrha Pradesh, another 266 were reported dead as a result of the heat. Most of the deaths have occurred in the past week.
A majority of the deceased were either elderly or exposed to the high heats without shelter; homeless individuals as well as construction workers were among the dead. In the capital of New Delhi, the heat warped roads and melted pavement. Paint on the roads began to run as the temperature melted the ground.
The annual monsoons are expected to come in the next couple days and many hope that the temperatures will drop as a result of the rains. However, meteorologists do not expect the temperature to drop dramatically even with the monsoon. The heat, according to experts, will not drop much until the weekend.
Special Commissioner for Disaster Management Tulsi Rani stated that the government will attempt to educate the public and provide water for citizens in order to safely survive the summer heat.
"The state government has taken up education programmes through television and other media asking people not to venture outside without a cap, to drink water and take other measures," said Rani. " We have also requested NGOs and government organisations to open up drinking water camps so that water will be readily available for all the people in the towns."
