Heatwave 2022: India facing power shortage during Delhi’s hottest April in a decade
Health officials set up special ward for heat stroke and brace for potential spike in patients
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Your support makes all the difference.India is facing the worst electricity shortage in more than six years as Delhi saw its hottest April in 12 years on Thursday at a maximum of 43.5C.
The temperatures in the national capital are predicted to linger around 44C with peak summer heat still to come before the cool monsoon rains in June.
The extreme heat parching across large swathes of south Asia this week has also prompted health officials in the western state of Gujarat to take measures, as they braced for a potential spike in patients.
“We have issued an advisory to hospitals to set up special wards for heat stroke and other heat-related diseases due to the rise in temperatures,” Manoj Aggarwal, health secretary of Gujarat, told Reuters.
Meanwhile, the leap in power demand has left India scrambling for coal, with inventories running lowest pre-summer levels in at least nine years.
Several states including Rajasthan and Haryana in the north and Andhra Pradesh in the south observed the worst power cuts in over six years as the government struggled to manage surging power demands.
Blistering heat threatens lives and livelihoods in India
Power outages. Dumpster fires. And comparisons to climate disaster fiction.
This is India in 2022, as extreme heat intensified by climate change is threatening lives and crops and the country braces itself for higher temperatures and more blistering weather in the days to come.
“It’s really quite unbearable,” said hydroclimatologist Arpita Mondal at the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai. “It is so hot and humid that even if you’re not doing anything, just sitting in one place below the fan or AC, it’s also tiring - it’s that bad.”
Our climate correspondent Saphora Smith in this report explains why the heatwave cloaking India this year stands out:
‘Unbearable’ blistering heat threatens lives in India
Deaths feared as temperatures approach 50C in intense heatwave
Doctors brace for a potential spike in patients
With the unprecedented heat putting several blue-collar workers at risk of sunstroke, health officials in India are bracing for a potential spike in patients in the coming days.
The western state of Gujarat has made special arrangements to respond to the health emergencies arising out of the heatwave.
“We have issued an advisory to hospitals to set up special wards for heat stroke and other heat-related diseases due to the rise in temperatures,” Gujarat’s health secretary Manoj Aggarwal told Reuters.
Delhi registers the hottest April in a decade
Delhi on Thursday registered a maximum temperature of 43.5C, making it highest for the month in 12 years.
The national capital had earlier registered a maximum of 43.7C in April 2010.
The city has so far recorded nine heatwave days in April, the highest for the month since 2010 when it saw 11 such days.
For plains, the heatwave is declared when the temperature soars past 40C and is at least 4.5C above normal while it is declared an extreme heatwave when the temperature is 6.5C above normal.
India sees worst power cuts in six years
India is facing its worst electricity shortage in more than six years as several Indian states struggled to manage surging power demands.
Electricity supply fell short of demand by 1.88 billion units during the first 27 days of April, the worst monthly shortfall in over six years, reported Reuters.
Rajasthan has scheduled four hours of power cuts for factories and rural regions, disrupting the industrial activity while exposing thousands of families in the desert state to extreme temperatures.
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