Summer has not intensified in the north but its impact is being felt in southern states. This time Kerala is facing the hottest summers in 29 years with temperature hovering at 41 plus in some parts of the state along with fear of draught. The temperature in almost all the southern states are high as compared to average heat prevailing. Heatwave has claimed over 4,000 lives in the last four years, with 87 people succumbing to heatwave this year until March, the government had said in the Parliament. In 2013, 1,433 people died due to heatwave of which 1,393 were from undivided Andhra Pradesh. In 2014, the figure dipped to 549, but rose to 2,135 in 2015, with Andhra Pradesh recording over 1,422 deaths, followed by 584 in Telangana. Until March this year, the intense heatwave has claimed the lives of 87 people, with Telangana topping the list with 56 deaths, followed by 19 in Odisha. Andhra Pradesh has recorded eight deaths, while Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala have one casualty each due to heatwave. “During the 2016 hot weather season (April to June), warmer than normal temperatures are expected in all meteorological sub-divisions of the country. Seasonal (April-June) average temperatures over northwest India are expected to be above normal by 1 degree Celsius. Thus making this year’s summers one of the hottest in the recent history. Conditions were almost as severe across southern India. Temperatures were comfortably hovering between 41C and 43C. Some 66 people have died from sunstroke this year. These temperatures will continue to rise until the summer rains arrive of the southwesterly monsoon, but those rains are not expected to arrive until around 1st June. If the weather conditions prevail like this long and unscheduled power cuts would become a routine making life more difficult.
