Eleven people who sat in the open at the Maharashtra Bhushan award event on Sunday died due to heat stroke, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde also went to a hospital where some 50 people have been admitted with heat-related health issues, reports NDTV.
Indian Home Minister Amit Shah presented the award, instituted by the Maharashtra government, to social activist Appasaheb Dharmadhikari. The event was held at Navi Mumbai, where the day temperature was recorded at a maximum of 38 degrees Celsius.
Mr Shinde and Mr Fadnavis also attended the award ceremony.
The social activist's followers numbering in thousands came to the event that was held at a massive ground in Navi Mumbai. The award ceremony started at 11.30 am and went on till 1 pm.
The ground was packed with people and equipped with audio and video facilities for them to see the event. The seating arrangement for the audience, however, had no shed over it.
Mr Shinde called the incident "unfortunate" and announced a compensation of ₹ 5 lakh to the families of those who died.
"As per the briefing received from doctors, 7-8 people have died today, while 24 are being treated. This is a case of sunstroke. Some 50 people were admitted to the hospital, of which 24 are still there while the rest have been discharged after primary treatment," Mr Shinde told reporters while coming out from the hospital.
Mr Fadnavis tweeted the government will pay for the treatment of those who suffered heat-related illness.
"It is very unfortunate and painful that some members participating in the Maharashtra Bhushan award ceremony this morning died due to heatstroke... We share the grief of their families," Mr Fadnavis tweeted in Marathi.
Some parts of the country will see a rise in temperature by 3-5 degree Celsius over the next five days, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Thursday.
India also reported its hottest February this year since record-keeping began in 1901, according to the IMD. Above-normal rainfall, however, kept temperature in check in March.
