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IMD Warns Eight States To Prepare For Heat-Wave As Death Toll Crosses 130

IMD Warns Eight States To Prepare For Heat-Wave As Death Toll Crosses 130
A traffic police woman drinks water as commuters drive along a road on a hot summer day in Chandigarh, India, May 31, 2015. While temperatures regularly top 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in May and June, parts of the south and east of India have baked under heat as high as 47 degree Celsius for seven straight days. REUTERS/Ajay Verma
Ajay Verma / Reuters
A traffic police woman drinks water as commuters drive along a road on a hot summer day in Chandigarh, India, May 31, 2015. While temperatures regularly top 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in May and June, parts of the south and east of India have baked under heat as high as 47 degree Celsius for seven straight days. REUTERS/Ajay Verma

Last year, heat waves killed 2,035 people in the country. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has now warned that the heat waves are back for this year, and has announced that at least eight states across the country will be highly affected over the next two days.

Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Gangetic West Bengal, Odisha, Marathwada, Vidarbha, Telangana, Rayalaseema and Tamil Nadu are among the listed states on the IMD website.

Central and peninsular India witnessed the hottest April in recent years, as the death toll across the country went past 130, reports The Times of India.

The Met office said pockets of north India too would witness heatwave conditions as days are likely to get hotter by 2-4 degrees in some parts of the country over the next two-three days.

Almost 100 people have died in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh due to heat wave conditions till now, while sunstroke has claimed 30 lives in Odisha, reports Skymet.

The state government in Telangana issued an alert in all districts to take precautionary measures to minimise its impact.

On Thursday, the highest maximum temperature recorded was 45 degrees Celsius in Odisha. "The state has seen unusually high temperatures this year since February, and temperatures this week went up to 45.8 degrees C, which is the highest recorded in 100 years,” P.K Mohapatra, special relief commissioner told Mint.

Mohapatra has said that heat-wave warnings have been sent out to the public, buses are equipped with first-aid kits and heat-stroke treatment wards have been set up in government hospitals and community health centres.

According to IMD, temperatures are expected to come down a notch or two by Sunday, when isolated dust-storms and thundershowers may cool the northern plains.

However, no such respite is in the offing for peninsular India and surrounding regions. The IMD said the temperature could reach an all-time high figure of 45°C in April.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.