A man shields himself from the sun and sweltering heat after prayers on the last Friday of Ramadan, April 29, 2022, in Hyderabad. MAHESH KUMAR A./AP
Power outages in India and Pakistan on Friday April 29 worsened the living conditions of millions of residents who were already overwhelmed by a record heatwave that experts are linking to climate change.
Unusually hot March and April has pushed up energy demand in India and Pakistan, with power plants now running out of coal to meet demand.
Several Pakistani cities have experienced power outages of up to eight hours a day for the past week, while rural areas have had power outages for half the day.
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Coal for less than a day in stock in New Delhi
“There is a power crisis and load shedding across the country,” said Pakistani Energy Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan, citing bottlenecks and “technical failures.” Temperatures in parts of Pakistan are expected to be a further eight degrees above seasonal normal, peaking in parts of rural Sindh on Wednesday at 48 degrees Celsius, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Society.
Scientists say heatwaves are more common but also more intense due to climate change. In the Indian metropolis of New Delhi, where the temperature reached 43.5 °C on Friday, the authorities estimate that many power plants have “coal for less than a day” in stock.
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“The situation across India is dire,” said Delhi Prime Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who warned of potential cuts to the capital’s hospitals and subway. India has even canceled some passenger trains to speed up the delivery of coal to power plants, according to Bloomberg News. Coal reserves at Indian power plants have fallen nearly 17% since early April, to just under a third of required levels, according to the same source.
No rain for two months
Firefighters attempt to extinguish a fire in New Delhi in April 2022. ADNAN ABIDI / REUTERS
Sugar water was distributed to passengers on public transport in east India’s Kolkata after a spate of illnesses. “Kolkata has been hit by the longest drought of this millennium for more than 57 days without rain,” said Sanjit Bandyopadhyay of the regional meteorological center.
At this time of the year, rain, hail and even snow usually fall in the highlands of the state of Himachal Pradesh, but not a drop of water for two months and temperatures break records.
As a result, hundreds of fires have reduced pine forests to ash, particularly around Dharamsala, the city where the Dalai Lama lives. “Most of these fires are ground fires that spread in the pine forests that are most vulnerable to fires,” state forest manager Ajay Srivastava told Agence France-Presse (AFP). “Teams of firefighters are working hard to put out these fires and save wild animals as well,” he added, adding that emergency services had to call on local residents for help.
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Closing schools or reducing teaching hours
For Muslims who observe Ramadan, the heat has made fasting difficult. As the sun went down, vendors made a thriving trade in Rooh Afza, a pink, sweet elixir popular for generations on the subcontinent to quench thirst.
The heat wave also led to the closure of schools or the reduction of teaching hours. In Patna, the capital of Bihar state, sunstroke has increased over the past ten days, as has the number of children suffering from fever, vomiting and diarrhea.
The authorities ordered the end of the courses at 10.45 a.m. and recommended not going out in the afternoon. A plague for the economy because “when people stay at home during the day, we have trouble earning a living,” sums up Rameshwar Paswan, a rickshaw driver.