This summer is going to be unusually hot. Are we prepared?
The scorching sun is already out and blazing, but according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), it's set to get much worse than what we are accustomed to. In view of the colossal loss of lives we have witnessed in the past due to soaring temperatures, authorities must swing into action.
This anticipated temperature rise, which is going to have most of north India in its grip, is being attributed to just one factor - global warming.
The spring season is going to be hot and the summers scorching. The IMD office has predicted an more than 1 degree Celsius increase in the normal temperature from March to May. While the forecast said temperatures are going to remain higher than usual across the country, it is likely that these months will be particularly troublesome for north Indian states.
The forecast notes: The seasonal average maximum temperature is likely to be warmer than normal by moret than 1 degree Celsius over Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, HCD (Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi), Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Vidarbha, Gujarat and Arunachal Pradesh.
It is likely to be more than 0.5 degree Celsius over Kerala, Tamil Nadu, south interior Karnataka and Rayalaseema. The other subdivisions are likely to experience maximum temperature anomalies between 0.5 degree Celsius and 1 degree Celsius.
A Times of India report quoted D Sivananda Pai, head of IMD's long term forecasting division which made the announcement as saying: "In the absence of other large-scale signals during the March-May period, the increased temperatures predicted in the forecast can be attributed to global warming."
Loss of lives
While efforts to fight global warming are on and the world is still divided over how to meet the challenge, people are paying with lives due to its impact.
More than 1,600 Indians died due to extreme weather conditions across the country in 2016, with severe heatwave taking the largest toll at 40 per cent. Between 2012 and 2016, 4,620 people died in the country because of the heatwave.
A paper titled "Increasing Probability of Mortality during Indian Heatwaves", published in 2017, said the number of deaths has skyrocketed as a result of extreme heat conditions in the Indian subcontinent and is likely to get worse with temperatures set to rise further.
Omid Mazdiyasni, lead author of the report, said: "As the temperature goes higher, the impact can potentially become exponentially worse, so this is something that is very serious, very important."
What can be done
Most people who die due to extreme weather conditions are actually those who are worst exposed to the phenomenon. They include the homeless, labourers and roadside vendors, who are deprived of the comforts of warm quilts when temperatures head south and even basic amenities such as fans when mercury rises.
We as a country have done little to ensure that quality shelters for homeless are put in place as a refuge from vagaries of the weather. The shelters that are built are woefully ill-equipped for human survival.
The administration hardly makes arrangements for drinking water along the roadside or in crowded public places, leaving people no option but to buy overpriced plastic water bottles, which the majority of citizens can't afford.
Every year, we hear the same stories of deaths, and the blame squarely falls on inefficient administrations caught napping. When criticism in the media grows, strategies are hurriedly drawn and then left to gather dust.
Advanced technology is helping us predict weather patterns increasingly accurately. This information must therefore be used to devise plans with timely action and save as many lives as possible.