Heatwave puts strain on water supply in India and Pakistan
▶ Rising temperatures bring health problems, forest fires and surging demand for energy
A heatwave in parts of India and Pakistan has put a strain on supplies of electricity and water as temperatures reach record levels.
India said north-western, western and central parts of the country faced the hottest April in more than a century.
Wells in some states have dried up and more than 1,000 water tankers have been sent to the capital, New Delhi, to tackle shortages.
The record temperatures could be cause for global concern, with India’s “bread basket” region of Punjab expecting a lower wheat harvest than usual. It aimed to increase production after the Ukraine war disrupted global supplies.
Hundreds of millions of people in India and Pakistan are unable to find any respite from the blistering heat that has gripped the subcontinent for several weeks, pushing electricity demand to breaking point and straining water supplies.
Daytime high temperatures in India will continue this week, along with warmer nights, the country’s weather office predicted.
Experts say a failure to take precautions, such as avoiding prolonged exposure to the heat, could result in deaths.
India’s Meteorological Department said large parts of north-western, western and central regions experienced the hottest April in more than a century.
“April was the fourth-hottest month in the country ever,” Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, director general of the Meteorological Department, said on Saturday.
Forecasters have issued warnings about high temperatures and warmer nights in most parts of the country, except some regions in the south.
A dozen states in north, west and central India will continue to face high temperatures. These include Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
There are predictions that parts of western Rajasthan could experience a temperature of 50°C this month.
A heatwave has been sweeping across large parts of India since March owing to “scanty” rainfall, the authorities have said.
This year had the hottest March in the country since 1901, with an average temperature of 33.1°C.
On Saturday, temperatures hovered at 43.5°C in the capital New Delhi – the city’s second-hottest April in the past 72 years. There is a possibility of a thunder and dust storm over the city today, but the heatwave is likely to continue in New Delhi and neighbouring regions for the next three days.
New Delhi experienced three prolonged heatwaves last month because of the absence of light rainfall and thunderstorms. Hundreds of millions of people are at risk from the unusual weather, with health experts warning people to avoid direct heat exposure.
More than 6,500 people died between 2010 and 2018 because of heatwaves, government data has shown. Severe shortages of water and electricity in some parts of the country have added to the misery of the population.
The intense heat has caused forest fires and left several rubbish dumps ablaze across the country, including one in New Delhi.
About 300 forest fires were reported at the end of last month, with about a third of these taking place in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand.
Weather experts have attributed the record heatwave to an absence of periodic light rainfall.
This has been ascribed to the lack of rain storms coming from a weather system known as the Western Disturbance.
This system emanates from the Mediterranean and brings moisture-rich clouds to the subcontinent.
Pakistan has also been in the grip of the extreme heatwave, with several parts of the country recording a record high temperature of 47°C on Saturday.
Jacobabad, in central Pakistan, was the hottest place, with a record of 49°C. The Sindh and Punjab regions have also been facing a severe heatwave. In the southern city of Karachi, the mercury hit 40°C on Saturday.
On Friday, the metropolis recorded its hottest night in April since 2010.
The government has urged local authorities to take precautionary measures to manage the intense heatwave.
The country is also facing an acute energy crisis, worsened by prolonged power cuts amid increased demand.