15 April,2025 02:33 PM IST | Hyderabad | mid-day online correspondent
It was observed in Telangana that except five Districts, all the remaining 28 districts had at least 15 days of heatwav, the govt order said. Representational Pic/File
The Telangana Government on Tuesday issued orders to declare sunstroke as a "State Specific Disaster" henceforth for the purpose of providing relief to the families of the victims, reported the PTI.
Under the new Government Order Rs 4 lakh ex gratia will be provided to the kin of the deceased amid heatwave conditions in state.
"The state government, having taken into consideration all the above-mentioned facts, have decided to declare heatwave/sunstroke as a "State Specific Disaster" henceforth for the purpose of providing relief to the families of the victims" the order said, according to the PTI.
Heatwaves remain a "hidden hazard" whose impacts are under-recognised due to measurement and valuation challenges. There is under-reporting of deaths and severe impact of heatwaves especially in the vulnerable sections of the population including women, children and old aged, the order issued by the government stated, as per the PTI.
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According to the PTI, the order further said, it was observed in Telangana that except five Districts, all the remaining 28 districts had at least 15 days of heatwave.
In the absence of specific ex-gratia, the state until now was providing assistance of Rs.50,000 under Apathbandhu scheme to the family of the deceased who died due to heat wave/sunstroke, the news agency reported on Tuesday.
The District Collector will ensure that the appropriate authority/authorities shall diagnose the heat-related death based on the history of exposure to high ambient temperature and the reasonable exclusion of other causes of hyperthermia, the order added, as per the PTI.
March-April 2022 heatwaves in India were caused by high altitude wind patterns, dry soil conditions: IITB
Meanwhile, the wind patterns in high altitude and very dry soil conditions caused back-to-back heatwaves in India in 2022, a study by Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) stated on Monday, reported the PTI.
A new study by researchers at IITB and Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Germany, found that these unusually intense heatwave events in March and April of 2022, which saw temperatures far exceeding typical ranges for that time of year. They were driven by different atmospheric processes that compounded heatwave impacts.
"Our analysis shows that the March heatwave was primarily linked to a sudden increase in the amplitude of short-lived atmospheric Rossby waves, which are large-scale meanders in high-altitude winds resembling bends in a winding river," the study's lead author Roshan Jha said, as per the PTI.
The waves grew stronger as high-altitude westerly winds near the poles transferred energy to westerly winds closer to the equator as they came closer during the heatwave, he said.
However, the April heatwave was largely caused by very dry soil conditions and advection of heat to India from north-western land regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
These dry conditions were partly created by the earlier March heatwave, which had already dried out the land through high temperatures and clear skies, the study added.
When soil has moisture, under clear sky conditions, some of the sun's energy goes into evaporating that moisture rather than heating the air, explained Arpita Mondal, Associate Professor at IIT Bombay and a co-author of the study, the news agency reported.
But when the soil is already dry, all that energy goes straight into making the air hotter, she added.
"Understanding these mechanisms is crucial for improving our ability to forecast and prepare for extreme heat events in South Asia. As climate change continues to affect atmospheric wind patterns, identifying these specific drivers helps us better predict and mitigate the impacts of future heatwaves," Mondal, Convener of Centre for Climate Studies and Professor at Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay, said, as per the PTI.
(with PTI inputs)
