India’s Deadly Heat Wave Drags On As Death Toll Rises To 1826

Dizzying temperatures has caused
water shortages in thousands of Indian villages and killed hundreds more people
over the past day, driving the death toll from a weekslong heat wave to at
least 1,826 by yesterday.

Meteorological officials called
the heat wave “severe” and warned that it would continue for at least
two days across a huge swathe of the South Asian country from Tamil Nadu in the
south to the Himalayan foothill state of Himachal Pradesh.

Most of those killed by
heat-related conditions including dehydration and heat stroke have been in the
southern states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where 100 people died just on
Thursday as temperatures hovered about 43 degrees Celsius (109 degrees
Fahrenheit).

Thousands of water tankers were
delivering supplies to more than 4,000 villages and hamlets facing acute water
shortages in the central state of Maharashtra, but it has only helped a little.

Scorched crops and dying wildlife
were reported, with some animals succumbing to thirst.

Cooling monsoon rains are expected
next week in the south before gradually advancing north. May God step into
their boat.