  The hydrodynamic equation for the spatial and temporal evolution of the
electron temperature T_e in the breakdown of the quantum Hall effect at
even-integer filling factors in a uniform current density j is derived from the
Boltzmann-type equation, which takes into account electron-electron and
electron-phonon scatterings. The derived equation has a drift term, which is
proportional to j and to the first spatial derivative of T_e. Applied to the
spatial evolution of T_e in a sample with an abrupt change of the width along
the current direction, the equation gives a distinct dependence on the current
direction as well as a critical relaxation, in agreement with the recent
experiments.
