‘Cooling areas’ call to cut rising deaths
Indian heatwave toll up to nearly 1 800
HUNDREDS of deaths caused by an extreme heatwave in India could have been prevented if authorities had followed the example set by Ahmedabad which introduced measures such as cooling spaces to protect citizens from the rising mercury, climate experts said.
Officials say 1 786 people have died in northern and southern India over the past week, with temperatures over 46ºC baking states such as Andhra Pradesh and Telangana as well as the capital New Delhi.
Doctors’ leave has been cancelled to help cope with the sick flooding into hospitals and clinics, complaining of headaches, dizziness and fever. Most of the deaths have been of construction workers, homeless people and the elderly.
But with the threat of more frequent heatwaves as a result of climate change, experts say India must recognise rising temperatures as a natural disaster, just like floods or earthquakes, and have a strategy to protect vulnerable people.
“The spiking temperatures underscore the need for local heat adaptation plans and early warning systems to reduce the health effects of heat stress and increase resilience in local communities to rising temperatures,” said Anjali Jaiswal from the USbased Natural Resources Defence Council.
“Ahmedabad’s heat action plan is tailored to help protect the city’s vulnerable communities during these disasters.”
After a heatwave hit Ahmedabad, a western city of 5.5 million people, in May 2010, killing over 1 300 people, authorities mapped areas with “high-risk” populations, including slums, as part of an action plan.
They also built up public awareness of the risks of high temperatures and set up “cooling spaces” in temples, public buildings and malls.
The UN intergovernmental panel on climate change predicts rising global temperatures could cause an increase of up to 82cm in sea levels by the late 21st century due to melting ice and the expansion of warming water, threatening coastal cities from Shanghai to San Francisco.
More frequent and intense extreme weather events are also expected, putting towns and cities in disaster-prone countries like India at greater risk.
Many of India’s 1.2 billion people live in areas vulnerable to floods, cyclones and droughts.
While May and June are the hottest – above 40ºC – meteorologists say the number of days when temperatures approach 45ºC has increased in the past 15 years.
Temperatures on Wednesday hit 47ºC – six degrees above normal – in Khammam district in Telangana state where 440 people have died of sunstroke.
“The situation is horrible. It is so bad that we are not able to stay at home nor can we go out,” said Debaria Bagh, 35, a cycle rickshaw driver in Titilagarh town in Odisha.
Cities like New Delhi and Ahmedabad were hardest hit because of the heat reflected off paved surfaces and a lack of trees. — Reuters