12 people died from extreme heat exhaustion as they attended an event held on a 306-acre open ground in Kharghar, Navi Mumbai.
The event, held to felicitate eminent social worker Dattatreya Narayan Dharmadhikari, popularly known as Appasaheb Dharmadhikari was attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, as well as Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
The nearest weather station recorded a maximum temperature of 38 degrees Celsius, with many saying it touched 42 degrees at high noon.
Thousands of people from interior Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Gujarat sat in the open ground in Kharghar. Majority belonged to ‘Shree Sadasya,’ the movement of the Dharmadhikari family, which donated awards to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.
Two tents collectively accommodating around 1,000 were reserved for VIPs, media, and others with separate entries.
Home Minister Shah praised the large crowd for braving the severe heat to be present at the ceremony.
The Navi Mumbai police released a statement saying many children and women lay on roads seeking drinking water and senior police officials carried water for them and many unfortunately collapsed due to the excessive heat. Policemen on duty drove them on motorbikes through the crowd to medical assistance centres for first aid and saved their lives, the release said.
Not everyone could be saved unfortunately as the deceased included nine women and three men.
Eight patients were undergoing treatment in another hospital and were reported to be stable, while remaining patients have been discharged,
According to local municipal authorities, 11 of the victims have been identified as Vinayak Haldankar (55), Tulsiram Wangad (58) from Thane, Mahesh Gaikar (42) from Mumbai, Swapnil Kini (30) from Palghar, Jayshree Patil (54), Vandana Patil (62) from Raigad, Manjusha Bombde (51), Savita Pawar (42) from Mumbai, Kalawati Vaychal (46) from Solapur, Bhima Salvi (58) and Pushpa Gaikar (64) from Thane.
CM Shinde announced ex-gratia of INR 5 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased and free medical treatment for those who admitted.
Heatwave is back in full swing
Heat wave conditions have been prevailing across the nation, with the IMD issuing warnings over rising temperatures.
West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh as well as Haryana are all reeling under heatwave conditions at least for the next five days.
Schools and colleges will remain shut this week in West Bengal, according to a PTI report.
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