NEW DELHI, May 23 (Xinhua) -- At least 37 people were killed in the two southern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana due to heatwave conditions, officials and local media reports said Saturday.
According to the revenue minister of Telangana, Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy, 16 people were killed across the state during the ongoing summer season.
The minister said the local government would provide a monetary compensation of 4,180 U.S. dollars to each of the families of those who were killed due to the ongoing heatwave.
The Telangana government has sounded an alert amid intensifying heatwave conditions.
In the adjacent state of Andhra Pradesh, at least 21 people were killed due to heatstroke, a local digital news platform ETV Bharat said on Saturday.
Officials said Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday reviewed preparedness measures to protect people from the prevailing severe heatwave conditions and high temperatures across the state.
In both states, people, especially elderly persons, pregnant women, children and those with diabetes, high blood pressure and heart-related illnesses, have been advised to stay hydrated and avoid direct exposure to the sun.
Meanwhile, India continues to dominate the global heat chart on Saturday. According to live temperature rankings featured on AQI.in (an open-source air quality monitoring platform) at 5:00 p.m. local time, the world's top 25 hottest places were located in India, highlighting the intensity of the heatwave conditions sweeping large parts of the country.
The highest temperatures on the list touched a blistering 47 degrees Celsius. Varanasi, Azamgarh and Jaunpur occupied the top three spots globally at 47 degrees Celsius each in the AQI.in rankings. The majority of the places in the list are located in Uttar Pradesh. ■
