Heatwave: Telangana government declares sunstroke as 'state specific disaster'

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 PTIUnder the new Government Order Rs 4 lakh ex gratia will be provided to the kin of the deceased amid heatwave conditions in stateThe state government having taken into consideration all the abovementioned facts have decided to declare heatwavesunstroke as a State Specific Disaster henceforth for the purpose of providing relief to the families of the victims the order said according to the PTIHeatwaves remain a hidden hazard whose impacts are underrecognised due to measurement and valuation challenges There is underreporting 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 PTIAccording 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 heatwaveIn the absence of specific exgratia the state until now was providing assistance of Rs50000 under Apathbandhu scheme to the family of the deceased who died due to heat wavesunstroke the news agency reported on TuesdayThe District Collector will ensure that the appropriate authorityauthorities shall diagnose the heatrelated 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 PTIMarchApril 2022 heatwaves in India were caused by high altitude wind patterns dry soil conditions IITBMeanwhile the wind patterns in high altitude and very dry soil conditions caused backtoback heatwaves in India in 2022 a study by Indian Institute of Technology Bombay IITB stated on Monday reported the PTIA new study by researchers at IITB and Johannes GutenbergUniversity 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 impactsOur analysis shows that the March heatwave was primarily linked to a sudden increase in the amplitude of shortlived atmospheric Rossby waves which are largescale meanders in highaltitude winds resembling bends in a winding river the studys lead author Roshan Jha said as per the PTIThe waves grew stronger as highaltitude westerly winds near the poles transferred energy to westerly winds closer to the equator as they came closer during the heatwave he saidHowever the April heatwave was largely caused by very dry soil conditions and advection of heat to India from northwestern land regions of Pakistan and AfghanistanThese 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 addedWhen soil has moisture under clear sky conditions some of the suns energy goes into evaporating that moisture rather than heating the air explained Arpita Mondal Associate Professor at IIT Bombay and a coauthor of the study the news agency reportedBut when the soil is already dry all that energy goes straight into making the air hotter she addedUnderstanding 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 PTIwith PTI inputsatOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params