"Time to face crisis together than indulge in "dirty politics": Atishi on severe heatwave, water crisis in national capital

New Delhi [India], May 31 (ANI): As heatwave conditions continue to persist in the national capital and across states, Delhi Minister Atishi urged the BJP on Friday to ask the Haryana and Uttar Pradesh governments to provide extra water to Delhi for a month, saying it was time to face the crisis together rather than indulge in "dirty politics."
Taking to the microblogging site X, Atishi posted, "Delhiites are troubled by this severe heatwave and water shortage. This is not the time to do dirty politics but to face this crisis together. If the BJP wants to give relief to the people of Delhi, then ask your Haryana and UP governments to give some extra water to Delhi for just 1 month. So that the people of Delhi can get relief."
As Delhi faces a heatwave, special arrangements have been implemented at RML Hospital to treat heatstroke patients effectively.
Dr Seema Balkrishna Wasnik, Head of Emergency Medicine at RML, spoke about the urgency and critical care measures in place and said that inflatable tubs filled with ice have been set up for heatstroke patients arriving at the hospital.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) reported that temperatures exceeded 45 degrees Celsius at 41 locations across the country on May 30. In Delhi, Safdarjung recorded 45.6°C, Palam 46.4°C, Ridge 46.7°C, and Ayanagar reached 47.0°C.
Meanwhile, at least 5 people died after suffering heatstrokes at a hospital in Bihar's Aurangabad district, said an official on Friday.
The death toll due to heat wave conditions in Bihar's Aurangabad, which reached 12 earlier has risen to 17 as of Friday.
As extreme temperatures continue to grapple in parts of northwest and central India, heatwave conditions have been disrupting the day-to-day lives of the people.
As many as 24 people have lost their lives across Bihar, as the state experiences intense heatwave conditions, with temperatures exceeding 44 degrees Celsius.
Four people, including a worker on election duty on Thursday also reportedly died in Kaimur district. Three deaths were also reported in Bihar's Arrah in Bhojpur district after suffering from extreme heatwaves in the region.
Amid the prevailing heatwave conditions in Bihar, the Sadar Hospital in the Nalanda district of Bihar prepared a separate ward for patients suffering from heatstroke and a loo.
This development came after the state reported deaths and cases of students fainting in the school due to the intensified heatwave.
Bihar has been reeling under a heatwave and the state government had, on Wednesday, ordered the closure of all private and government-run schools, coaching institutes and Anganwadi centres till June 8.
The decision was taken after dozens of students fainted due to the heat.
In a similar case of heat-related casualties, four people succumbed to heatstroke and died at the Rourkela Government Hospital (RGH) in Odisha's Sundargarh on Friday morning, said an official.
Additional District Magistrate (ADM), Rourkela, Ashutosh Kulkarni shared details about the heatwave-related deaths and said, "As many as 50 patients were brought to the RGH Hospital yesterday following extreme heatwave conditions in the district, after which all of them were admitted. Four people succumbed to the heatstroke and died here at the hospital in Rourkela."
Six jawans died allegedly due to heat stoke while performing election duty in Mirzapur district of Uttar Pradesh, said an official Mirzapur Medical College on Friday.
A total of 23 jawans from the police armed constabulary, fire department, civil police and home guards were admitted to the hospital with complaints of heat stroke.
Heatwave conditions continue to relentlessly grip parts of India, claiming over 50 lives and pushing temperatures to unbearable highs.
Also, in a similar kind of incident, a police inspector passed away during election duty in Rae Bareli.
Two polling personnel deployed on duty in UP's Sonbhadra district also died of heatstroke heatstroke amid the rising temperatures.
Sonbhadra DM Chandra Vijay Singh said, "A polling party was supposed to leave from the dispatch centre in Robertsganj today. Three polling officials including a police personnel and others fell ill due to heat. Two polling officials have died. The CMO mentioned heatstroke-like symptoms were seen in the polling officials who were brought here."
Security personnel deployed at a polling station fall ill due to extreme temperatures.
Speaking to ANI, Sadar Hospital's Dr Ajeet Kumar said, "Due to the heatwave and excessive temperatures, the security personnel suffered heat stroke. 1-2 out of them are in a serious condition. There are roughly 6-7 people whom I have recently attended."
Bihar has been the worst-hit state, with over 24 deaths attributed to the extreme heat.
Other states including Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh have also been seeing fatalities.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued warnings of severe heatwave conditions persisting for several days.
Cities like Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu have been sweltering under the relentless sun.
Amid the persistent intense heatwave situation, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath issued necessary guidelines for administration in the state on Friday.
Amid the soaring temperatures and intense summer heat in parts of the country, several villages in the Melghat region of Maharashtra's Amravati district are experiencing a severe water crisis, forcing residents to collect water from polluted sources.
During peak summer, the situation intensifies into a distressful situation. The residents of Mariampur village allege they are forced to collect drinking water by digging pits on the bank of the polluted pond.
The locals have further raised their concerns over the government's inaction, citing the absence of water tankers and the ill-functioning governmental taps in their village.
Heatwave conditions continued to prevail in Madhya Pradesh and an alert has also been issued by the Meteorological Department for the same.
According to the met office, Sidhi district recorded 48.2 degrees Celsius temperature and Khajuraho in Chhatarpur district stood at 47 degrees Celsius in the last 24 hours in the state.
Meanwhile, despite the ongoing heatwave in several parts of the country, a significant increase in the number of devotees was witnessed at Shri Ram Janmabhoomi, Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.
Devotees were spotted with umbrellas standing in a long queue and eagerly waiting for their turn to get a sight of 'Ramlala'.
When asked, they expressed that the heat could not prevent them from seeking Ramlala's blessings.
As an intense heatwave grips the state of Rajasthan, Minister Kirodi Lal Meena said that the heatwave death toll claimed by the opposition is far from reality and a total of five people have so far lost their lives.
"8-10 days ago, we issued heatwave guidelines which reached the general public through the district administration. The state health department has stated that as many as five people have died due to persistent heatwave conditions in the state," said the Rajasthan Minister.
The India Meteorological Department said on Wednesday that the heatwave to severe heatwave conditions prevailing over Northwest and Central India are likely to reduce gradually from May 30.
It further said that hot and humid weather is very likely to prevail over isolated parts of Konkan and Goa on May 30 and 31. (ANI)