Intense Heat Wave In India Brings Sunstroke Deaths, Electric Grid Meltdown, And Spoiled Fruit

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/issue/

By Ryan Koronowski on May 29, 2013

Heat wave conditions have claimed the lives of over 500 people in India since April. India’s Department of Disaster Management reported that 524 people have died of sunstroke since April 1. The Indian Meteorological Department said tomorrow’s forecast called for clear skies and continued heat, warning that “the heatwave will continue.”

The Times of India reported that the state of Hyderabad’s 500 sunstroke deaths in just three days is the highest such death toll in recent history.

New Delhi saw 43 degrees C (or over 109 degrees Fahrenheit) today, western states such as Gujarat saw highs between 116-118 degrees Fahrenheit, and the northern state of Uttar Pradesh hit 45 C (113 F). This state is one of the nation’s poorest, with 190 million people. Its energy infrastructure is inadequate to the demand of so many residents trying to cool themselves. Since pumps are often required to provide water, this also means that a power outage comes with a water outage. Angry residents attacked power company officials and even set fire to a power station. For the rest of the population, power outages combined with humidity caused most people to stay indoors.

India’s neighbor Pakistan has responded to its own extreme heat by turning off the air conditioning government offices and telling civil servants not to wear socks.

The government may be moving to include heat waves as natural disasters covered by the National Disaster Relief Fund, which provides financial compensation for victims’ families.

It isn’t just the daily highs during a heat wave that cause suffering, the daily lows are also dangerous. State capital Jaipur saw a low of over 90 degrees Fahrenheit on Monday, well above average.

Kanpur resident Bholanath Paul said, according to Newstrack India: “Summers are always difficult but usually the temperatures come down in the evenings. But this time even that is not happening. It remains hot during the night too.”

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