A brutal heatwave has claimed more than 100 lives across the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana over the past few days, as temperatures in several districts surged past 48 degrees Celsius. With the Indian Meteorological Department warning that these extreme conditions will persist, authorities have issued urgent advisories urging residents to remain indoors, particularly during the peak heat hours of 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. State officials are scrambling to manage the crisis, deploying public cooling stations and organizing heatstroke management units to cope with the influx of patients at government hospitals.

The disaster has been compounded by severe administrative and infrastructural failures, sparking widespread public outcry and political condemnation. A disturbing incident in Telangana, where a family was forced to carry a relative’s body for four kilometers due to a lack of available hospital hearses, has ignited fierce criticism against the state government. Meanwhile, the crisis is expanding beyond the south, with northern regions like Delhi, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh struggling with soaring temperatures. In many areas, the combination of record-breaking power demand and strained infrastructure has led to frequent electricity outages, further complicating the efforts to provide relief to citizens suffering in the sweltering conditions.