A record heatwave has hit India and Pakistan, causing power outages and water shortages for millions of people who are expected to experience this blast furnace more frequently in the future, according to climate change experts.
The 46° reached
The temperature in Delhi approached 46 degrees Celsius on Thursday. And this extreme heatwave is expected to continue raging in north-west and central India for five more days and in the east by the end of the week, according to the Indian Meteorological Agency.
“This is the first time I’ve seen such a heat in April,” says Dara Singh, 65, who has run a small street shop in Delhi since 1978. “The betel leaves I use to make the paan spoil faster than usual. Usually this happens in May, in the height of summer.”
A drop in the water supply
Rajasthan in northwest India, western Gujarat and southern Andhra Pradesh have imposed blackouts on factories to reduce consumption. According to press reports, large power plants are facing coal shortages.
Several regions in the country, home to 1.4 billion people, reported water supply declines that will worsen ahead of the annual monsoon rains in June and July. In March, Delhi experienced a high of 40.1 degrees, the hottest temperature that month since 1946.