Of the 33 heat-related deaths reported in 2022, 27 were from Maharashtra. Three were from Odisha, two were from Telangana and one was from Andhra Pradesh.

Pawar said the ministry had released a National Action plan on heat-related illness in 2021. This document provides guidance to manage severe heat-related illnesses in terms of clinical management, health facility preparedness and surveillance of heat-related illnesses.

Based on the guiding principle of the National Action Plan, 18 states have prepared action plans for heat-related illnesses.

The Union Health Ministry has started collecting data on morbidity and mortality due to heat-related illness through Integrated Disease Surveillance Program (IDSP) from heat-vulnerable states/union territories since 2015, the minister said in an answer to another written question.

While in 2018, 25 deaths were recorded; in 2019, 215 deaths were reported, with Bihar reporting as many as 121 deaths, followed by Telangana (42) and Andhra Pradesh (29).

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