NEW DELHI, May 31 (Agencies): An Indian court has urged the government to declare a national emergency over the country's ongoing heat-wave, saying that hundreds of people had died during weeks of extreme weather.
India is enduring a crushing heat-wave with temperatures in several cities sizzling well above 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit).
It has not published nationwide figures for deaths attributed to the current heatwave but the eastern state of Bihar said Friday at least 14 people had "succumbed to death due to heat stroke" the previous day during extreme temperatures.
On Thursday at least 24 people died of suspected heatstroke in India's eastern states of Bihar and Odisha and the heat-wave in the region is expected to continue until Saturday, authorities said.
The High Court in the western state of Rajasthan, which has suffered through some of the hottest weather this week, said authorities had failed to take appropriate steps to protect the public from the heat.
"Due to extreme weather conditions in the form of (the) heatwave, hundreds of people have lost their lives this month," the court said Thursday, before the deaths in Bihar were announced. "We do not have a planet B which we can move onto... If we do not take strict action now, we will lose the chance of seeing our future generations flourish forever."
The court directed the state government to set up compensation funds for relatives of any person who dies as a result of heat ailments. Ruling on the current heatwave and such events in the future, it also said India should begin declaring them "national calamities", allowing the mobilisation of emergency relief in a similar manner to floods, cyclones and natural disasters.
India has been experiencing a blisteringly hot summer and a part of capital Delhi recorded the country's highest ever temperature at 52.9 degrees Celsius (127.22°F) this week, though that may be revised with the weather department checking the sensors of the weather station that registered the reading.
While temperatures in northwestern and central India are expected to fall in the coming days, the prevailing heatwave over east India is likely to continue for two days, said the India Meteorological Department (IMD), which declares a heatwave when the temperature is 4.5 C to 6.4 C higher than normal.
A total of 14 people died in Bihar on Thursday, officials said, including 10 people involved in organising the seven-phase national elections that are currently underway. Parts of Bihar are voting in the final round of polling on Saturday.
The deaths of 10 people were also reported in the government hospital in Odisha's Rourkela region on the same day, authorities told Reuters, prompting the Odisha government to advise against outdoor activities between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. when temperatures peak.
Three people died of suspected heatstroke in Jharkhand state, neighbouring Bihar, local media reported.
In Delhi, where high temperatures have been causing birds and wild monkeys to faint or fall sick, the city zoo is relying on pools and sprinklers to bring relief to its 1,200 occupants.
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