The Federal Health Ministry has said it would form a team of experts from its department, and from the Indian Council of Medical Research, the India Meteorological Department and the National Disaster Management Authority, for the Indian states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in order to assist the two states in public health response measures to address heat-related illnesses.
The decision was taken after federal Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya chaired a high-level meeting on Tuesday to review public health preparedness to deal with the prevailing heatwave conditions in parts of the country.
Mandaviya will hold another meeting with disaster management officials and ministers of eastern states like Odisha, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Telangana, Jharkhand, and Bihar on Wednesday, where the searing heat continues to prevail.
Reports reveal that nearly 170 people have died in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar due to the extremely hot weather conditions.
Fatalities were also reported in the Indian state of Odisha, Jharkhand, and other eastern and north-eastern states.
Heatwaves are quite common in Southeast Asia, especially in India in May and June. But experts say they have become more intense and frequent, and last longer.
A heatwave, or extreme summer event, is generally declared when the maximum temperature is above 40 degrees Celsius or at least 4.5 degrees above normal.
A study published in The Lancet last year said that India saw a 55-percent rise in deaths due to extreme heat between 2000-2004 and 2017-2021.