Indian Heat Wave death toll goes over 2200

The deadly heat wave condition in India which turned intense in mid-May, continued to prevail across the larger part of the country taking the death toll beyond 2200.

The southern states of India, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, which recorded maximum number of casualties, have been under harsh temperature that reached 47 degrees celsius.

Since Friday, another 146 deaths were reported in AP raising the toll to 1636. In Telangana, the toll rose to 541, said senior officials of the State disaster management department while speaking to a national daily.

The Indian Meteorological Department officials have issued a warning that high temperatures are likely to continue to few more days. According to experts interviewed by local media, El Nino is a weather anomaly that leads to warming of sea-surface temperatures in the Pacific, often resulting in burning heat across Asia and delaying India's June-September monsoon.

Due to sweltering heat wave conditions, most of the victims are construction workers, the elderly or the homeless, exposing the vulnerability of millions of Indians who work outdoors and under extreme temperatures.

An assessment report  of the Indian Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change attributes the heat wave to rising global temperatures, which have risen by an average of 0.8 degree celsius in the last ten years.

"But, warmer tropical regions, including south India, have witnessed a spike of between two and four degrees," said the report.

It adds that human activity may have aggravated the situation. Phenomena such as the urban heat island effect - where a city or metropolitan area becomes significantly warmer than its surrounding rural areas - can make ambient temperature feel three to four degrees higher than what it is.

Meanwhile, the weekend thundershowers brought little respite as the daytime temperatures continued to hover between 45 C and 47 C (113-116 F) in parts of the two states. Weather officials hope that there should be relief with some rains expected during the next four or five days.

Speaking to HT, an IMD official said the monsoon which was expected to hit the India last weekend, will be delayed by four to five days and is likely to arrive in Kerala in the first week of June.