Heat kills 12-year-old in Marathwada

Unable to bear the brunt of heat, a 12-year-old girl died in Maharashtra’s drought-hit Beed district, Marathwada. The girl was on her fifth trip to the village hand pump, which is at a distance of 500m from her house, and suffered a severe heart attack that led to her death.

According to reports, Yogita Desai was suffering from dysentery and was unwell for a prolonged period of time.

“There is a severe water crisis. She had gone to fetch water, where she felt giddy and collapsed,” said the deceased’s uncle, as quoted in a report.

The temperature on the fateful day was 42 degrees Celsius. Beed is one of the seven districts in Marathwada that has been reeling under the scorching sun. Coupled with it, water crisis has made people’s life miserable.

Meanwhile, claiming that the Centre has no “serious” plan in place to tackle drought, CPI on Wednesday in New Delhi demanded that the government convene an all-party meeting to discuss the problem and figure out ways to combat it.

Claiming “no such” crisis situation had arisen in the past 25 years, the party called for measures like arrangement for supply of drinking water in parched regions, drought pension of Rs 3,000 per month per head to agricultural workers and free food to those affected.