Scorching heat kills 2 in MP; Gwalior touches 47°C
With Madhya Pradesh recording unusually high temperatures and a severe heat wave warning issued by the MeT department for the state this summer, two men died of heat stroke on Thursday.
With Madhya Pradesh recording unusually high temperatures and a severe heat wave warning issued by the MeT department for the state this summer, two men died of heat stroke on Thursday.
A post graduate diploma in computer applications (PGDCA) student — 20-year-old Sumit Dwivedi — fell unconscious while taking an exam at AKS College in Satna around 11 am.
A native of adjoining Sidhi district, Sunmit was rushed to the district hospital by a classmate where he died during treatment.Doctors said heat stroke might have killed the youngster.
In another incident, a 30-year-old man — Shakil alias Babloo – died in Amarpatan area.
He was on his way to a market, when he suddenly fell unconscious near the Shahid Baba area. He was rushed to a nearby health center but doctors declared him as dead on arrival.
According to Amarpatan police station in charge Yashwant Goel, doctors suspected that Shakil died due to the onslaught of extreme heat wave.
Gwalior was the hottest at 47 degrees Celsius (five degrees above normal) during the day.
Khajuraho followed with 46.8 degrees (4 degrees above normal), Bhopal recorded 45.6 degrees (five degrees above normal), Ujjain stood at 45.5 degrees (five degrees above normal) and Indore at 44 degrees (three degrees above normal).
Fruit bats collapse as mercury soars in Bhopal
The rising temperatures turned out to be a serious botheration for the fruit bats as they kept falling from the trees in Bhopal and died due to the unrelenting heat wave.
Hundreds of flying bats, with their habitat at Kamla Park, usually resort to belly-dipping at Upper Lake.
“Mammals have sweat glands via which they are able to regulate their body heat. Bats too have them but regular exposure to scorching heat makes things worse. Bats, unlike birds, have to bear the heat all day and night-long. Most bird species have nests and some even rest in hollow trunks and tree cavities. Even birds suffer heat strokes in summer but bats are more susceptible to rising temperatures,” said Ajay Gadikar, an ornithologist from Indore.
Even fishes have been dying in extremely heated up water bodies. “The situation was not this bad a decade earlier. Taking Madhya Pradesh into account, during summers, temperature used to come down in the evening. But now, even after 7pm, one has to think twice before stepping out of the house. How can you expect the fauna to adjust,” added Gadikar.
“Cemented roads, cutting down trees, escalating usage of air conditioners, pollution — all this contributes to a weaker atmosphere. We cannot stop urbanisation but we need to develop equilibrium on the same hand. If we have to cut down a tree, we need to plant at least 10 in its place. Then only things can recover,” said Ram Mohanty, an environmentalist from Bhopal.