IN IMAGES, IN PICTURES – The milestone of 50 degrees Celsius was reached this weekend in the two Asian countries. An untenable situation for the inhabitants.
Since March, India and Pakistan have been boiling. Temperatures continue to rise and broke records this weekend: up to 46 degrees in New Delhi, and 50 in certain areas of Pakistan. Photographs taken on site show residents overwhelmed by unbearable temperatures. Stunned bodies lie under the bridges; we fight for a square of shade or a few centilitres of water. And meanwhile, the birds are falling from the sky, half unconscious…
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After school, a child cools off under a drainpipe in New Delhi. Most of the city’s establishments have brought forward the start of the summer holidays, or have gone into distance learning, in order to protect students from the heat wave that is hitting the country.
The Yamuna is running out. The river that crosses New Delhi, sacred in India, is reaching critical levels and threatening the capital’s water supply. Water production from the three main treatment plants has fallen by 25%, according to the newspaper Indian Express so access to water could be cut off in some parts of the city.
Homeless people shelter under a bridge in New Delhi, hoping to find some shade and shelter from the heat. The poorest, for lack of air conditioners, are also the most exposed to the risk of exhaustion and discomfort in the face of high temperatures.
The heat wave caused water shortages in several cities across the country. Distribution points are organized to provide drinking water to residents, who come to fill containers.
Only 12% of India’s 1.4 billion people have access to air conditioning. This nevertheless caused a record of electricity consumption on a national scale, so much so that the coal reserves melted in a few weeks: the authorities programmed power cuts in the factories to meet demand, and plan to reopen abandoned coal mines.
Construction workers are particularly at risk. In India, there are no laws that prohibit outdoor activities above a certain temperature, contrary to what exists for example in certain countries of the Middle East.
Birds are falling from the sky, stunned by the temperatures. Doctors at a veterinary hospital, run by the NGO Jivdaya Charitable Trust, cared for hundreds of dehydrated and exhausted birds, which fell in mid-flight due to the heat.
In Pakistan, the record of 51 degrees Celsius was reached on Friday May 13 in the city of Jacobadad. This is the highest temperature ever recorded in the northern hemisphere since the beginning of the year. Temperatures were between 6 and 9 degrees above normal, including 40 degrees reached in the capital, Islamabad.
There is no total assessment of the number of victims linked to the heat wave. But the Indian state of Maharashtra has recorded at least 25 deaths since March, and the Indian government recognizes 6,500 victims of heat waves since 2011. A figure largely underestimated, according to scientists.
SEE ALSO – A bridge destroyed by a flash flood in Pakistan
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