Hyderabad: Claiming over 1000 lives in the last 8 years, Telangana falls under core heat wave zone, according to the findings of the disaster management department.
Most demises due to heatwave were recorded in the years 2015 and 2016, the data says.
There was a considerable decline in deaths caused due to heatwave during 2020 following the pandemic induced lockdown. Core Heatwave Zone (CHZ) is the most heat prone area, mostly observed in the month of May and according to the department’s findings, states such as Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal come under this zone.
“Telangana has recorded 1,008 deaths from 2014 to 2020 owing to the heatwave. Majority of the deaths occurred in 2015 with 541 deaths, followed by 2016 with 324 deaths, and 2017 with 108 deaths,” the department’s data informs.
A heatwave is declared when the maximum temperature is above 40 degrees Celsius. Based on this criteria, two mandals in Telangana have been classified as ‘severely vulnerable’ to heatwave, 62 as critical, another 187 as semi-critical, while 316 of total mandals as vigilant, and 21 as safe. Over 13.7 million people in the state live in the severe, critical, and semi-critical zones.
The city of Hyderabad is placed under an area which experience less than seven days of heatwave. In 2015, the city recorded just three days of heatwave.
Follow on Twitter | Posted by Mohammed Baleegh | 
