Centre Asks 7 States, Including Odisha, To Share Data On Heatwave Deaths

New Delhi: With the delay in the arrival of monsoon adding to a rise in suspected heatstroke cases, Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya on Wednesday held a review meeting with seven states, including Odisha, to assess preparedness for heat-related illnesses arising due to heatwave conditions.

The Union Minister also urged the representatives of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana to implement the State Action Plans at the ground levels while issuing timely warnings to people. ““Effective disaster response and management is a collaborative work. With coordinated actions between Centre and states, we can surely ensure there are no deaths due to heatwave,” he said.

Mandaviya advised the states to develop training manuals on heat and health for state officials, medical officers and health workers. They were also asked to increase resiliency to extreme heat at health facilities by ensuring uninterrupted electricity supply; installation of solar panels and adopting measures to reduce indoor heat. “State-level trainers need to ensure that their training is up to field level. Capacity Building of Medical Officers, Health Staff & sensitisation of grassroots level workers on heat illness, with focus on early recognition and management using training manuals provided by Union Health Ministry is crucial,” he stated.

Highlighting the lack of accurate data from the ground, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai urged states to share field level data on heatwave, including on deaths and cases, so that a realistic assessment of the situation can be made.

He further emphasised on the importance of timely action as soon as IMD alerts are received in the states. “Timely, advance and wide awareness among the people on the preventive measures will hugely support in reducing the severe impact of such heat waves,” he pointed out.

According to media reports, the casualties due to heatwave has reached 122 in Uttar Pradesh. While 68 died at Ballia Hospital in Uttar Pradesh, the nearby Deoria district saw 54 deaths in the past 24 hours, according to Times of India. 

On June 18, Ballia’s Chief Medical Officer Jayant Kumar was removed from his post for “giving a careless statement on deaths caused by heatwave without having proper information”. He told The Associated Press on June 17 that “all the individuals were suffering from some ailments and their conditions worsened due to the extreme heat,” Most of the deaths were because of heart attack, brain stroke and diarrhoea, he added.

Deoria Medical College’s principal Dr Rajesh Barnwal has also denied fatalities due to heat. “Some who came to our college did die in the past few days but none was a consequence of heat stroke, as is being projected in a section of the media,” TOI quoted him as saying.

On Sunday, the Odisha government had confirmed its first heatwave-related death and sanctioned an ex gratia of Rs 50,000 for the deceased’s family. The victim was a middle-aged person from Balasore district. A senior official at the Special Relief Commissioner’s (SRC) office also said that the state had so far received allegations of 20 deaths due to heat.

Also Read: Monsoon To Set Over Odisha In 2 Days, Very Heavy Rain From June 23

In Bihar, the state disaster management minister confirmed four of 26 deaths due to heatwave. The 22 other deaths, earlier attributed to heatstroke, have been found to have been caused by “other factors”, he told PTI.