© Sunil Ghosh/Hindustan Times via Getty ImagesChild cools down in water fountain in scorching heat at sector 34 on May 29, 2024 in Noida, India. Maximum temperature reaching as high as 47.3C, highest recorded this season.
Even in a country so accustomed to spells of searing heat, India has been grappling with temperatures that have seen the mercury rise to increasingly unbearable heights - and with fatal consequences.
Delhi recorded close to 50C (122F) in May, while the heatwave sweeping across other states in northern India has taken a substantial toll on the nation's election workers. According to experts, rising summer temperatures are here to stay.
As many as 61 people have died due to the current heatwave, including
33 on election duty and a voter in Uttar Pradesh (UP), India's most populous state, as well as eight on election duty in neighboring Bihar. The Health Ministry confirmed
56 heat-related deaths in the country by May 30, 46 of which had happened in that month alone.
The Indian Meteorological Department issued an
orange alert (cautioning people to "be prepared") on June 1, the final day of voting, and the '
loo' - the hot summer wind - depressed the turnout by
61.63%, 3.5% lower than in 2019.
What is worrying is that the latest
World Weather Attribution Report released last month predicts that such heatwaves will be 45 times more likely (compared to pre-industrial times) in the years to come, attributing the cause to human-induced climate change.
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