At least 33 people, including on-duty election workers, died of suspected heatstroke in the Indian states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha this Friday (31). The heat wave in the region is expected to continue until Saturday, officials said.
India has been experiencing an extremely hot summer and part of the capital, New Delhi, recorded the highest temperature in the country, 52.9º C, this week.
The record can be reviewed by the weather department, which checks the weather station's sensors and confirms the reading.
Even as temperatures are forecast to drop in northwest and central India in the coming days, the prevailing heat wave in the east of the country is likely to continue for another two days, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
According to the department, a heat wave is when the temperature is between 4.5°C and 6.4°C higher than normal.
Fourteen people died in the Indian state of Bihar on Thursday (30), according to authorities, including 10 people involved in organizing the seven-phase national elections that are underway.
Election workers often have to be on duty all day, often outdoors.
Parts of Bihar will vote in the final round of elections on Saturday (June 1).
In the state of Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous, at least nine election workers, including security guards, died this Friday (31), according to government officials.
“They had a high fever when they arrived. It could have been due to heatstroke. We are currently treating at least 23 people from the electoral service,” said Kamal, director of the medical college where the officials were taken.
The election and campaign were hit by record temperatures. The last phase of voting is scheduled to be held on Saturday (June 1st) and the votes will be counted on Tuesday (June 4th).
Ten deaths were also reported at the government hospital in the Rourkela region of the Indian state of Odisha on Thursday (30), officials told Reuters.
The event prompted the Odisha government to advise against outdoor activities between 11am and 3pm, when temperatures peak.
Three people have died of suspected heatstroke in the state of Jharkhand, neighboring Bihar, local media reported.
In New Delhi, where high temperatures have caused wild birds and monkeys to faint or fall ill, the zoo has swimming pools and sprinklers to soothe its 1,200 occupants.
“We have switched to a summer management diet, which includes more liquids as well as all seasonal fruits and vegetables, which contain more water,” Sanjeet Kumar, director of the zoo, told news agency ANI.
The Indian capital, where the temperature was 45.4º C on Friday afternoon (31), recorded its first heat-related death this week and is experiencing an acute water shortage.
Climate changes on the continent
Billions of people across Asia face rising temperatures — a trend that scientists say has been worsened by climate change.
India's neighbor, Pakistan has also seen an increase in forest fires as temperatures rise, which reached 52.2ºC last week.
India is the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, but has set a goal of becoming a net-zero emitter by 2070.
While the heat affects part of the country, the states of Manipur and Assam, in the northeast, were hit by heavy rains after Cyclone Remal, with several areas flooded this Friday (31).
Monsoon rains also hit the coast of the state of Kerala, in the far south of the country, on Thursday (30), two days earlier than expected.
Additional reporting by Tora Agarwala in Guwahati
Source: CNN Brasil
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