India's Heatwave Toll 1,200, No Respite In Sight

TERRADAILY

AFP File photo: Indian girls seeks refugee under umbrella beside roadside during 2001's heatwave.

Hyderabad (AFP) May 23, 2002
A ferocious heatwave, India's worst in four years, has killed around 1,200 people, with no sign of relief in sight, officials said Wednesday.

Officials in the southeastern state of Andhra Pradesh told AFP that the sizzler had killed a total of 1,037 people in the past two weeks in the coastal state.

Another 162 people have died in other parts of India which has been hit by unseasonal blistering heat since May 6, officials New Delhi said.

Andhra Pradesh Relief Commissioner Rosaiah (eds: one name) said the largest number of 172 heat-related deaths occurred in the state's East Godavari district. Prakasam district reported 166 deaths while 144 people died in West Godavari.

"Thankfully, there has been no fresh reports of deaths in the last two days," the commissioner said, as the state government began an investigation into the staggering number of lives lost.

A heatwave in 1998 killed 2,500 people and most of the casualties occurred in the eastern state of Orrissa.

The ongoing heatwave also hit Adnhra Pradesh's adjoining state of West Bengal where temperatures jumped to 44 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit) in the state capital Calcutta leading to casualties Wednesday.

"Eight people died Wednesday in Calcutta and at least 50 people were rushed to the city hospital with heat-related ailments," said Sibaji Ghosh, Calcutta police deputy commissioner.

Power cuts added to Calcutta's woes and traffic snarled as policemen abandoned their posts to escape the smothering heat.

"Most crossings in the city remained unmanned as policemen sought the shade to escape the mid-day heat," said Ghosh.

He said at least a dozen deaths were reported in other parts of the state such as Midnapore and South 24-Parganas bringing the local toll in the past two weeks to 27.

Rajendranath Goldar, director of the Alipore meteorological office in Calcutta, said the heatwave "would continue for another 24 hours."

The Press Trust of India said four people, including a new-born baby, died Wednesday in the northern Uttar Pradesh state.

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TERRADAILY

India Facing Inevitable Multiple Major Quakes

Boulder - Aug. 23, 2001
Following an exhaustive geophysical and historical analysis, a research team led by the University of Colorado at Boulder believes there are no alternatives to one or more massive earthquakes occurring in India in the near future, threatening millions of lives.

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