India’s extreme heatwave leaves outdoor workers sweltering – as its sends the price of lemons through the roof
- The heatwave burning up large swathes of India began last month in the north of the country, but has now engulfed the south and other regions too
- Landfills are on fire, children are being sent home from school, the price of lemons has more than tripled – and one state has been hit with a beer shortage
Daily life has become hellish. Long and painful power cuts are now the norm thanks to soaring electricity demand, causing factory machinery to grind to a halt and frozen food to thaw out in grocery store fridges.
In northern India, forest fires are raging on wooded hills as dried pine needles spontaneously combust. The heat is also causing taps to run dry, leaving outdoor workers – who have little to no protection from the elements – to suffer most.
Some like Munazir Khan, who sells fruit from a stall in the New Friends Colony area of the Indian capital, dunk towels into buckets of water and wrap them around their heads in an attempt to stave off the heat.
“It’s great for a couple of minutes when it cools you off but it dries in no time and then you are back to square one,” Khan said. He keeps a tarpaulin stretched over his fruit to try to protect it, but nothing can stay fresh for long in these temperatures.
India burns as temperatures top 44 degrees Celsius amid extreme heatwave
The heatwave burning up large swathes of India began last month in the northern states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, and capital New Delhi, but has now engulfed much of the south and other regions too. This year, India recorded its hottest March since records began in 1901 and temperatures have been several degrees above normal ever since.
Schools in some states such as Odisha, where temperatures have hovered around 43 degrees for weeks, have closed. “I am relieved. My son came home dehydrated from the bus and nauseous. It’s too much for a young body to take,” a mother in the east Indian state told NDTV news channel.
A widely shared video from Odisha shows a woman cooking a flat bread to a crisp on the sizzling bonnet of her car.
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New Delhi shrouded in smoke as massive landfill burns
Vast mountains of rubbish that dot the outskirts of many Indian cities have been ignited by the oppressive heat. Delhi’s Ghazipur landfill, one of the capital’s largest, went up in flames last month – fuelled by the excess methane that decomposing waste generates. On Tuesday, the unusually high temperatures also started a fire in Delhi’s Bhalswa landfill, causing toxic smoke to descend on nearby shanty towns where poor families live. By Friday, it was still burning.
Temperatures in Delhi hit 43.5 degrees Celsius on Thursday, the second warmest April day for 52 years. With the demand for power going through the roof, the government held an emergency meeting to make sure there was enough power for hospitals and the city’s subway.
India’s coal crunch is a bad sign for its economy, and the climate
To make matters worse, no respite is in sight. The India Meteorological Department has warned that the heatwave is set to continue well into next week.
Meanwhile, the heat has sent the prices of lemons soaring and caused a run on beer in West Bengal state.
Drinking a type of lemonade known as nimbu-pani is a popular way of cooling off amid the summer heat in India, as lemons are usually so cheap that vendors often throw in a few for free with a customer’s order.
This year’s extreme heatwave has ratcheted up demand, however, sending lemon prices spiralling above 300 rupees per kilo (US$3.90) – more than triple the usual summer price – as reports emerge of thieves breaking into warehouses to steal crates filled with the refreshing citrus fruits.
“My customers can’t believe the price,” said Ram Milan, who sells fruit and vegetables from a cart in the capital. “They ask me: ‘Do you think I’m crazy that I’ll pay 10 rupees for one lemon?’”
Elsewhere, a shortage of beer has been reported in West Bengal state after the heat caused a massive jump in demand. Beer production in the state was curtailed amid the pandemic and has not yet returned to normal levels. Distributors blamed “logistical bottlenecks” for the shortage.
