Weather officials warned today there would be no immediate relief from soaring temperatures in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh where people are bearing the brunt of a heatwave that has claimed nearly 1,250 lives across the country.
A majority of the heatwave victims are daily wage labourers with no savings, who have no option but to continue doing strenuous menial jobs outdoors to feed their families despite the killer heat.
DC Rosaiah, relief commissioner in Andhra Pradesh, 74 more people had died across the state, bring the death toll to 1,139.
Most of the casualties were in the coastal district of Guntur bordering the Bay of Bengal.
Most of the victims are people living below the poverty line and the government has promised to pay their relatives a 10,000-rupee (215-dollar) grant.
Andhra Pradesh has one of the highest concentrations of India's poorest people. Almost 12 million people, or 15 per cent of the population, live below the government designated poverty line.
CVV Bhadram, director of the Hyderabad Meteorological office, warned there would be no relief from the heat at least until the end of the week.
"The dry northwesterly winds sweeping across the state which are causing the heatwave are slowly weakening but it could take until the end of the week for any real relief to be felt," he said. He urged residents to stay indoors and drink plenty of water.
AFP