Even The Monkeys Are Desperately Trying To Cool Down As India Battles Against The Heat

More than 800 people have died in the midst of a blistering heatwave in India which has seen temperatures hit 50C, with roads melting in the capital New Delhi.

Holiday leave has been cancelled for all doctors as deaths from heatstroke have soared, and there has also been a spike in diarrhea cases due to people swimming in dirty water to cool off.

At a temple in Jaipur, macaque monkeys have been pictured swimming in a sacred pool to cool down - and have even been accepting water from tourists.

As temperatures were forecast to hit 43C in Jaipur today, a troop of macaques were pictured diving into the pools in the Galtaji Temple in an attempt to stay cool.

Forecasters have warned that there will be no respite from the savage heat until Thursday at least, when a dust and thunderstorm has been predicted.

The heatwave has hit cities in southern India the hardest, such as Hyderabad, the capital of the state of Andhra Pradesh, where 551 people have died in the last seven days.

Temperatures also hit 45.5C in New Delhi as roads melted, bringing traffic to a standstill.

Meanwhile in Kolkata, in the country's east, taxi drivers refused to drive between 10am and 4pm after two of their colleagues died of suspected heat stroke.  

The streets of Hyderabad, where temperatures have approached 50C, have been all but abandoned after local government put out TV adverts advising people against venturing out.

'The state government has taken up education programmes through television and other media to tell people not to venture into the outside without a cap, to drink water and other measures,' said P. Tulsi Rani, special commissioner for disaster management in the state.

'We have also requested NGOs and government organisations to open up drinking water camps so that water will be readily available for all the people in the towns.'

In Telangana state, which borders Andhra Pradesh in the south, 231 people have died in the last week as temperatures hit 48 degrees Celsius over the weekend.

In the western state of Orissa 11 people were confirmed to have died from the heat.

Another 13 people have died in the eastern state of West Bengal, where unions urged drivers in the city of Kolkata to stay off the roads during the day.

Hyderabad street vendor P. Gangamma said the heat was making her head pound, but she had no choice but to stay outside.

'For the past three days hot wind has been coming in,' said the 65-year-old, who sells cigarettes on a busy intersection. I am a diabetes patient, but I have no husband and no sons, so I have to stay here and keep shop.'

Delhi street food vendor Hari Om said business was slow, with few people venturing out in the furnace-like conditions.

'All the food is getting spoilt even though I prepared it fresh in the morning. It's bad business, but what to do? People are not coming out and they don't feel like eating. All they want is to sip cold water all day.'

Widespread powercuts are expected to follow in the wake of the heatstroke deaths, as power-consuming air conditioning units are turned on en-mass.

India's power industry has long struggled to meet rapidly rising demand in Asia's third largest economy, with poorly maintained transmission lines and overloaded grids.

The Hindustan Times warned that some of the hot, dry conditions could plunge the worst-affected states into drought before monsoon rains arrive.

The monsoon is forecast to hit the southern state of Kerala towards the end of this month before sweeping across the country, but it will be weeks before the rains reach the arid northern plains.



Source: www.dailymail.co.uk