Telangana govt declares heatwave, sunstroke as a state-specific disaster

The Telangana government on Tuesday declared heatwave and sunstroke conditions as “state-specific disaster” and announced an ex gratia of ₹4 lakh to the families of the victims of such a disaster from the state disaster relief fund (SDRF).

A government order to this effect (GO No. 5) was issued by special chief secretary (revenue-disaster management) Arvind Kumar.

According to the GO, heatwave remains a “hidden hazard” whose impacts are under-recognised due to measurement and valuation challenges. There is under-reporting of deaths and severe impact of heatwaves, especially among the vulnerable sections of the population, including old-aged, women, children and farmers and workers, especially those in the construction sector who are directly exposed to heatwaves.

While storms, floods and earthquakes destroy physical assets such as houses, factories, roads and hospitals whose replacement cost can be quantified quickly, there is no such mechanism to measure deaths due to sunstroke or heatwave, it added.

As per the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the criteria of heatwave is when the maximum temperature of a station reaches at least 40°C and there is a departure from the normal by 5°C to 6°C; likewise severe heatwave is considered when there is a departure from the normal by 7°C or more. The IMD also specifies that when the actual maximum temperature remains 45°C or more, irrespective of normal maximum temperature, heatwaves should be declared.

The GO said in Telangana, during the year 2024, it was observed that except five districts, all the remaining 28 districts had at least 15 days of heat waves.

“In the absence of a notification declaring the heatwave as a disaster, the required sufficient relief in terms of ex gratia to the family of a person dying due to heatwave/sunstroke could not be provided. In the absence of specific ex gratia, the state until now was providing assistance of ₹50,000 only under Apadbandhu scheme to the family of the sunstroke victim,” it said.

The GO said that as per the SDRF guidelines, the state government is permitted to use up to 10% fund of the annual allocation of the SDRF for providing immediate relief to the victims of “state specific disasters” within the local context in the state, provided the state government notifies such state-specific disasters.

Therefore, the state government has decided to declare heatwave/ sunstroke as a “state specific disaster” henceforth for the purpose of providing relief to the families of the victims and pay an ex gratia of ₹4 lakh to such families, under the 40% window of the SDRF funds, the GO said.

It added that the district collector would ensure that appropriate authority, including district medical and health officer, shall diagnose the heat-related death, after assessing the prevailing heatwave conditions in the area. He would prepare the list of heatwave/sunstroke victims along with their identification documents, death certificates and local weather reports.