Burnt out

Four young men made an omelette sans a stove in Sultanabad, Karimnagar, recently. One of them held out a pan under the sun, while another broke an egg over it. No, they were not making a YouTube video. They were just trying to make an otherwise punishing summer day an enjoyable one. What they made looked like a half-boiled egg — a state that people in both states found themselves in for about two weeks in the latter half of May.

Till May 15, it was largely a dream summer in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Punctuated by cloudy days and intermittent rains, the weather was quite unsummery. Sale of air-conditioners and coolers slumped. The biggest disappointment of the season was the scanty yield of Banganapalli mangoes and other seasonal fruits. What appeared like a kind summer led to a sense of complacency in the government machinery. Their under-preparedness was exposed in the weeks ahead as the only action the hapless government could manage was to bombard people with tame messages of dos and don’ts, even as over 1,500 people died.

The first signs of a cruel season surfaced by May 18. Temperatures soared, abruptly making Andhra Pradesh and Telangana a veritable furnace. In the next 10 days, over 1,500 people were killed, with over a 1,000 in Andhra Pradesh alone. The prolonged heat wave forced people to remain indoors most of the day. But that was of not much help. With walls and rooftops remaining hot till 10pm, there was little relief on offer.

In the coastal districts of Andhra, east and west Godavari, Prakasam, Guntur, Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram, the blistering heat generated by the above-normal temperature combined with the sultry, humid conditions proved vicious. In Prakasam district, which is facing the worst drought situation in nearly half a century, cattle and human death was the highest at around 350.

VS Krishna, general secretary, Human Rights Forum, blames it on indifferent governments. “What’s the point of announcing compensation after sunstroke killed them? They should have done something for farmers, daily labourers, the elderly and children,” he says.

Unlike most other natural disasters like cyclones, floods, droughts and cold waves, a heat wave does not qualify to be tackled on an emergency basis by the National Disaster Management Authority nor does the centre provide compensation or relief to the victims. It is left to the states to fight and fend for themselves. States like Odisha have a mechanism of compensation and relief measures, while Gujarat has shown some preparedness. However, heat waves sweep through northern India, including the national capital, with consistent frequency, as data proves. It is only the deaths and temperatures that are religiously reported, only to be quietly forgotten when the summer is gone.

As is often the case, it is the poor and the lower-middle class that bore the brunt of this heat wave. Among those killed by sunstroke was an eight-month-old baby in east Godavari district. Though she was not exposed to the sun directly, the heat proved to be fatal. Similarly, a 75-year-old man in Ongole reportedly succumbed to the heat as his thatched hut was not protection enough. He did not have access to oral rehydration or medical help either. According to official records in Andhra, about 25 per cent of the victims are workers under various government welfare schemes. Casualties were also reported among sheep grazers, construction workers and bus passengers. “They come with high levels of dehydration, fever and vomiting. If we can give them fluids in time, we can revive them. We have been treating such patients in the last two weeks,” says Koundinya, a house surgeon at the Gandhi Hospital in Secunderabad.

The Hudhud cyclone in October last year in a way aggravated the current situation in Visakhapatnam, Godavari districts, Krishna, Nellore and Prakasam. The missing greenery pushed up humidity to agonising levels for a few days. People, who went on holidays in the region, were forced to spend their vacation indoors.

One silver lining in this gloom was the improved power situation in both states. Those who could afford to stay in protected environments or worked indoors had the benefit of continuous power supply. During the summer of 2014, extended power cuts and an uncertain political environment had taken the lives of nearly a 1,000 people during a less-severe heat wave.

Now, the worst appears to be past us. There have been a few showers and the temperature has climbed down. “The worst phase is over. We are forecasting a drop in temperatures and rains in several parts,” says an official at the Indian Meteorological Department.

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