India's heatwave

It’s so hot in India right now the roads are literally melting: At least 1,400 dead in month-long heatwave

Sanjeev Verma/Hindustan Times via Getty ImagesA road melts near Safdarjung Hospital after the temperatures rise to 45 degree Celsius during a hot weather as Delhi/NCR experienced yet another scorching day, on May 24, 2015 in New Delhi, India

It’s so hot in India right now that the streets are literally melting.

Soaring summer temperatures in India have left more than 1,400 people dead over the past month, officials said Thursday.

Most of the 1,412 heat-related deaths so far have occurred in Andhra Pradesh and neighbouring Telangana, where temperatures have soared up to 47 C, according to government figures.

“The rains which have eluded us for the last couple of years have created serious drought conditions,” said state minister K.T. Rama Rao in Telangana, which was carved out of Andhra Pradesh as a separate state just last year.

“This is unprecedented … so there is a little bit of panic,” he said. “Hopefully the monsoon will be on time. Hopefully we will receive rain very, very soon.”

• Earlier: More than 800 people have died in India from brutal summer heat wave

Public announcements have urged people to drink water and try and avoid going outdoors during the hottest hours of the day.

Meteorological officials have said the heat would likely last several more days — scorching crops, killing wildlife and endangering anyone labouring outdoors. 

Officials warned people to stay out of the sun, cover their heads and drink plenty of water. Still, poverty forced many to work despite the risks.

“If I don’t work due to the heat, how will my family survive?” said construction worker Mahalakshmi, who earns a daily wage of about $3.10 in Nizamabad, a city about 150 kilometres north of the state capital of Hyderabad.

AP Photo/Saurabh DasBoys dive into a water tank on a hot summer day in New Delhi Wednesday.

Cooling monsoon rains were expected to arrive next week in the southern state of Kerala and gradually advance north in coming weeks.

Until then, volunteers were passing out pouches of salted buttermilk or raw onions — both thought to be hydrating. People used handkerchiefs and scarves to block searing winds and stifling air from their faces.

Across the country, teenagers flocked to water basins and rivers to cool off. Many adults took refuge atop woven cots in the shade.

Newspapers devoted full pages to covering the heat wave and its effects, with headlines saying “Homeless bake in tin shelters” and “birds & animals drop dead.”

NARINDER NANU/AFP/Getty ImagesAn Indian man uses a rickshaw to transport ice from an ice factory in Amritsar on Wednesday.

In cities like New Delhi, crowds of office workers gathered around stalls selling fruit drinks and iced water, while police officers wearing sweat-soaked shirts squinted into the sun while directing road traffic.

At the zoo, leopards and tigers lay panting in the shade until zoo keepers came by every two hours with hoses. One white tiger rolled around in obvious delight while being sprayed with water. Elephants drank thirstily and lolled in a pond.

“We are even spraying the reptiles,” Delhi Zoo curator Riyaz Khan said, noting fans were also set up to keep enclosures cooler, while the animals were also receiving glucose in their drinking water.

SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP/Getty ImagesA fountain near India Gate in New Delhi Wednesday.

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n the northern Indian states of Punjab and Haryana, Sikhs distributed free glasses of rose-scented milk to the public. Brief spurts of rain brought temporary relief to pockets of the nation, including the southern city of Chennai and the eastern city of Jharkhand.

Forecasting service AccuWeather described this as the most intense heat wave in India in recent years. The death toll for Andhra Pradesh alone, at 1,360, was higher than during a 2003 heat wave when 1,300 died in what was then a unified state including both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

MONEY SHARMA/AFP/Getty ImagesA young Indian child pours in New Delhi on Thursday.

Files from Omer Farooq and Katy Daigle, The Associated Press

Indian Heat Wave Slowly Weakening as Death Toll Exceeds 1,800 – Official

A deadly heat wave across India is waning after leading to the deaths of over 1,800 people, the country's Meteorological Department head told Sputnik on Friday.

"The intense heat waves blowing through various parts of India is now decreasing slowly," Director B.P. Yadav said.