At least 15 people die as record high temperatures scorch India

At least 15 dead as searing heatwave scorches India, with temperatures over 45°C causing deaths, hospital admissions, fires, and straining power and water supplies.

The temperature has been above normal for the past two weeks, especially in northern and central India and several places are above 45 centigrade (113 Fahrenheit). It has been attributed to be the cause of at least 15 deaths that are related to heat and other complications including heat stroke. 

Three election officers and a police officer died due to sunstroke while polling was going on in the northern state of Bihar on Thursday. There has been a high influx of patients in many of the region's health facilities due to heat-related complications. 

The deaths of people have been reported in some of the states which include Odisha, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, and Delhi. Delhi again in yet another heat-related death on Thursday one laborer died of a heat stroke in a hospital. 

It has widened electricity and water consumption as temperatures soared to 50 °C (122 °F) in certain parts. Delhi has experienced power loss and people have been observed trying to fetch water in water tankers as depicted in videos. 

Fires have gotten worse in the country and remote sensing has been done on fires in forests in Jammu and Kashmir. The heat has proved to be a hindrance to the ongoing general election in India and the results are expected to be out on June 4th. 

The doctors fear that such high temperatures pose a threat to become a public health problem in the congested regions of India. Heating was found to cause over 167 billion possible working hours lost in the year 2021 according to a study carried out recently. 

Global warming has resulted in tin-heatwaves that are more severe, longer in duration, and more recurrent in the summer in India and other countries. A study conducted for The Lancet which observed heat-related deaths indicated that there has been a 55% increase in heat-related deaths in India between the year 2000-2004 and 2017-2021 as a result of an increase in heat waves. 

Also Read: Heat Wave Continues; Temperatures Touch 50+ Degrees Celsius in Northern India

The concern is that more people will die from heat stroke, heat exhaustion, heat cramps, heat stress, and heat fatigue and that the resources will be stretched even further in the forthcoming days and weeks.