India is experiencing an extraordinary summer, with temperatures across the country exceeding 45 degrees Celsius (113°F) and approaching 46°C. Akola in Maharashtra's Vidarbha region recorded the nation's highest temperature of 46.9°C on April 26. Census workers and voters in West Bengal elections have died; a man traveling to a wedding died on the bus. On a single day in late April, all of the top 50 hottest cities in the world were in India.
The United Nations has expressed concern that heatwaves are pushing food supply 'to the brink,' as farmers cannot work outdoors, livestock suffers heat stress, and crops fail. Extreme heat is causing not only heart attacks but also kidney injury, sleep disruption, and exacerbation of chronic conditions like diabetes, respiratory illnesses, and mental health issues.
Most heat-related deaths in India go unrecorded. The 16th Finance Commission has recommended that heatwaves be declared national disasters, but accessing government funds is mired in red tape. Meanwhile, an 'orgy of tree-felling' is occurring across the worst-affected cities, with heritage banyan trees in Nashik, old trees in Pune and Bengaluru being cut down for development.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who came to power in 2014, has denied climate change, telling students, 'Climate has not changed. We have changed. Our habits have changed.' The heat is reinforcing inequalities: the rich travel in air-conditioned comfort, while the poor are left to die. Harvard's South Asia Institute reports that nearly 380 million Indians live in conditions exceeding human physiological limits.
The Modi regime has done nothing to transparently record heat-related deaths. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) faces criticism over transparency, having blamed a 'faulty sensor' for an erroneous 52.9°C reading in 2024. After two months of heatwave, the government implemented its Heat Wave Action Plan, using it as a branding opportunity with cooling points plastered with the prime minister's face.
The author concludes that a prime minister who does not believe in climate change will not be an ally in fighting extreme weather events.
Source: www.aljazeera.com