Even as the severe heat wave in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana continued to take toll claiming more lives on Monday, the maximum temperature showed signs of respite in some places in Andhra Pradesh after almost ten days. Officials said 13 more deaths were reported from Telangana and 15 died in Andhra Pradesh taking the death toll to 460. While 261 people died in Andhra Pradesh since May 18, Telangana officials said 199 people have died in the State since April 15. But the local media was flooded by reports of large scale deaths in both the States putting the toll at more than 800 over the last couple of weeks. Most of the victims were the elderly, children and daily wage earners.
Residents of Hyderabad heaved a sigh of relief with the mercury dipping to 38 degrees, Hyderabad Meteorological Center said. Khammam, which broke almost a seven-decades old record of temperature by reaching the 48 degrees Celsius mark on Saturday, has some relief now as the mercury fell to 42 degrees on Monday. Hyderabad recorded 38 degrees from as high as 44 degrees during last week. In Telangana, Adilabad had the second highest temperature of 41 degrees followed by 40 degrees in Nalgonda.
However, situation continues to be grim in AP where the highest temperature of 47 degrees was recorded in port cities of Kakinada, Machlipatanam and Tuni. Vijaywada simmered at 46 degrees. KY Reddy, in-charge director of Hyderabad Meteorological Centre said the current situation was likely to continue for at least one more day as the hot winds were sweeping from Northern and North Western India towards Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.