Sharp rise in heatstroke casualties, cases in hospitals as heatwave batters Delhi

New Delhi, June 19

Hospitals in Delhi are witnessing a spike in casualties and heatstroke cases as a brutal heatwave continues to batter the Capital, officials of health facilities said on Wednesday.

Twenty persons have died due to heatstroke in three major hospitals since May 27. State-run Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in Delhi has admitted 45 patients with heat-related problems since May 27, with 10 deaths reported, seven of which occurred in the past two days. Safdarjung Hospital has reported nine deaths this summer, including five on Wednesday, while Lok Nayak Hospital has seen two deaths in the past week.

The city’s residents have endured temperatures with minimums crossing 35°C and maximums hovering around 45°C. An IMD official said, “For Safdarjung Airport Delhi, this is the highest daily minimum temperature observed among all months from 1969 to 2024. The earlier highest was recorded on May 23, 1972, at 34.9°C.”

On Wednesday, the Safdarjung station recorded the minimum temperature at 35.2°C, eight degrees above the seasonal normal. The weather office has forecasted that the heatwave conditions will persist over most parts of north India for the next 24 hours before subsiding.

The extreme heat has also led to massive electricity consumption, pushing Delhi’s peak power demand to an all-time high of 8,656 MW on Wednesday afternoon.