Two die of sunstroke in Kerala; IMD issues alert

Sunstroke claimed two lives in Kerala on Sunday. Authorities con¢rmed the death of a 90-year-old woman in Palakkad and a 53year-old man in Kannur, even as the blazing sun and heatwave left people scrambling for shelter in many parts of the State.

The IMD issued a heatwave alert for Kollam, Thrissur and Palakkad districts on Monday. The maximum temperature in Palakkad is likely to be around 41 degrees Celsius. Kollam and Thrissur may touch 40 degrees Celsius, while the temperatures will be around three to ¢ve degrees Celsius above normal in most districts of the State, except Wayanad and Idukki.

On Sunday, Palakkad recorded the highest temperature of 41.6 degrees Celsius on Sunday in the manual observatory, around 5.3 degrees Celsius higher than the normal temperature.

Kottayam witnessed a record-breaking maximum temperature of 38.5 degrees Celsius, the highestever recorded in April. Alappuzha matched its alltime highest temperature for the month of April since 1987, with the mercury hitting 38 degrees Celsius on Sunday.

Since the ¢rst week of March, temperatures have crossed the 40 degrees Celsius mark in many places in the State as per the readings from the automatic weather stations.

Rainfall, temperature & air quality in select metros yesterday

Forecast for Monday: Thunderstorm accompanied with lightning, gusty winds, and hailstorm very likely at isolated places over Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Heat wave to severe heat wave conditions very likely over West Bengal and Bihar. Heat wave conditions in isolated pockets Tamil Nadu and Telangana.

CITIES

TEMPERATURE DATA: IMD, POLLUTION DATA: CPCB, MAP: INSAT/IMD (TAKEN AT 17.00 HRS)

SO

Poor

NO

CO

PM2.5

Moderate

PM10

CODE

Good (Readings indicate average AQI)

SO2: Sulphur Dioxide. Short-term exposure can harm the respiratory system, making breathing di£icult. It can a£ect visibility by reacting with other air particles to form haze and stain culturally important objects such as statues and monuments.

NO2: Nitrogen Dioxide. Aggravates respiratory illness, causes haze to form by reacting with other air particles, causes acid rain, pollutes coastal waters.

CO: Carbon monoxide. High concentration in air reduces oxygen supply to critical organs like the heart and brain. At very high levels, it can cause dizziness, confusion, unconsciousness and even death.

PM2.5 & PM10: Particulate matter pollution can cause irritation of the eyes, nose and throat, coughing, chest tightness and shortness of breath, reduced lung function, irregular heartbeat, asthma attacks, heart attacks and premature death in people with heart or lung disease