Temple town Tirupati sizzles at 46 degrees

Temple town Tirupathi in Chittoor district and Jangameswarapuram of Gurajala mandal in Guntur were the hottest places in Andhra Pradesh on Monday with daytime temperatures touching 46 degrees Celsius.

Due to the severe heatwave conditions, footfall of pilgrims has drastically come down in Tirumala hills. Even though special arrangements were made by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), empty queue lines were seen in almost all categories. The TTD has arranged for sprinkling of water to cool down asphalt-laced Mada streets surrounding the holy shrine. Mats were laid and watered frequently to save the devotees from blistering their feet under the hot sun.

Meanwhile, heatwave conditions prevailed over many parts in the districts of Guntur, Prakasam, Nellore of Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Chittoor of Rayalaseema. Nellore and Nandyal recorded 45 degrees, Nandigama, Kadapa and Kurnool recorded 44 degrees on Monday. Around 43 people died due to sunstroke across Andhra Pradesh since Sunday. People were disappointed  as the free butter milk scheme that the government had promised never took off. The Andhra Pradesh government had assured Rs 3 crore for each district for the supply of free butter milk.

In Telangana, 39 people some of them MNREGA workers in Nizamabad district died due to heatstroke on Sunday. Khammam, Ramagundam, Adilabad, Hyderabad, Medak and Nalgonda in Telangana were the hottest with 45 degrees Celsius. Normal life has been affected in all the 10 districts of the state.