Uttar Pradesh: 54 People Dead in 3 Days
54 people have died and around 400 hospitalized in Uttar Pradesh's Ballia in the last three days amid soaring temperatures in the district, with officials offering divergent explanations for the death
A severe heatwave has swept Uttar Pradesh as most places are witnessing temperatures around 40 degrees. Fifty-four people have died and around 400 have been hospitalized in Uttar Pradesh's Ballia in the last three days. 23 patients died on June 15, 20 the next day, and 11 yesterday. The sudden increase in deaths and patients being admitted to hospitals with fever, breathing trouble, and other issues have overwhelmed the hospital, which has put its staff on alert. There's such a rush at the district hospital that patients are unable to get stretchers, and many attendants are carrying their patients to the emergency ward on their shoulders. The Additional Health Director has, however, claimed that it gets difficult if ten patients turn up at the same time, but they do have stretchers. A Chief Medical Superintendent rank doctor posted at Ballia was removed from his post, after his on-record statement saying many of the deaths were due to heat stroke went viral. He has been removed for "giving a careless statement on deaths caused by heat waves without having proper information.”
Dr. AK Singh, Health Director went to Ballia. He is investigating the cause of deaths and illness and revealed that most of the patients coming for the treatment complained of chest pain, difficulty in breathing, and then fever. They are getting urine tests, blood tests, and other tests done. People are going to the hospital out of fear and panic. The doctor said, ‘These do not appear to be heatwave-related deaths because nearby districts facing similar conditions are not throwing up similar death figures. The initial symptoms were of chest pain mostly which is not the first symptom for someone affected by a heatwave. It will be investigated if the deaths were due to water or if there's a different reason. The climate department will also come to check water samples.’
The Samajwadi Party attacked the UP government saying, ‘So many people across UP have lost lives because of the carelessness of the state govt. They should have warned the people about the heatwave. Not a single district hospital has been built in UP in the last 6 years. Those who have lost their lives are poor farmers because they did not receive food, medicines and treatment on time,
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted severe to very severe heatwave conditions in Odisha, Vidarbha, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, etc.
