Telangana govt releases Heatwave Action Plan for summer

Hyderabad, May 2 (PTI) Telangana government on Friday released a Heatwave Action Plan (HAP) to deal with the severe heat conditions which are likely to prevail in the state up to June.
    State Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, who released the HAP, said a nodal officer has been appointed for each district.
    Reddy, who held a meeting with officials, said 588 of the total 612 mandals in the state have been identified as heatwave-hit mandals.
    He said the government had on April 15 designated heatwave and sunstroke as "State-Specific Disasters" and that the ex-gratia for deaths due to heatwave had been increased from Rs 50,000 to Rs four lakh.
    The minister asked officials to make arrangements to distribute butter milk and ORS packets along with drinking water in 'chalivendram' (water kiosks). The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds of corporate companies can be tapped for the purpose, he said.
    He asked the officials to publicise the precautions to be taken in summer through public announcements and LED screens in bus stations, markets, places of worship and also to set up shelters and drinking water, an official release said.
    He suggested providing drinking water to birds, stray dogs and others in public parks.
    He told the officials to take steps to see that workers who work under high-temperature conditions get adequate rest.
    The minister asked the labour department to see that adequate rest, drinking water, ORS packets and shelter are provided to workers involved in sanitation and waste management.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)