NEW DELHI: A day after Rajasthan's Phalodi recorded the country's highest temperature ever of 51°C, the India Meteorological Department said the frequency of severe heat waves had increased sharply in the past 15 years.
Most heat-affected states have no plan in place to prevent mortality and morbidity associated with extreme heat. IMD officials said the average frequency of severe heat waves had doubled from 50 days a year across India until 2000, to about 100 in the 2001-2010 decade. The figures are cumulative numbers from all IMD stations. So, if there are 10 severe heat wave days in two cities simultaneously, it's counted as 20.