IMD issues heat-wave warning to eight states as death toll crosses 130

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has announced that at least eight states across the country will face heat-wave conditions over the next two days. The regions include Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Bihar, Gangetic West Bengal, Odisha, Marathwada, Vidarbha, Telangana, Rayalaseema and Tamil Nadu. Central and peninsular India continued to witness the hottest April in recent years, as the death toll across the country went past 130, reports The Times of India. [caption id=“attachment_2597774” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. AFP[/caption] Almost 100 people have died in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh due to heat wave conditions till now, while sunstroke has claimed 30 lives in Odisha, reports Skymet. Last year, 2,035 people were killed due to heat-waves in India, reports Mint. The temperature touched 44**°C in three Telangana districts on Thursday — a day after Hyderabad broke a 43-year-old record with mercury reaching the 43°C level. The state government in Telangana issued an alert in all districts to take precautionary measures to minimise its impact. The maximum temperature is likely to hover above 40°**C in the next 24 hours in many parts of the state, an official said on Thursday. In Karnataka — the first state to declare drought this year, at least 500 villages are now completely dependent on water supplied by tankers as there is no supply, reports NDTV. Meanwhile, Maharashta’s Latur is now relying on waters being transported by special trains run by the state government. The Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed BCCI to shift all the Indian Premier League (IPL) matches after 30 April out of Maharashtra observing that the plight of drought victims cannot be ignored. With 2015 now the hottest year since records started being kept 135 years ago, Delhi, Mumbai and other Indian cities have heated up substantially since the 19th and 20th centuries, data from the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) revealed earlier this year. With inputs from agencies