Bankura district in West Bengal was the hottest place in the country on Monday, with the mercury rising above 45 degree Celsius and making life difficult for people queuing up to vote in the state assembly elections. The above-40 degree Celsius heat wave across the state claimed a casualty within the first three hours of voting, when a polling officer in Burdwan suffered a heart attack and died.
State capital Kolkata had on Friday registered its first heat-related death this summer when a 51-year-old man fell sick on a bus and died on his way to hospital because of what doctors said was a sunstroke. With the heat wave expected to worsen this week, government schools in the city have been shut from Monday to ensure that children remain indoors.
In neighbouring Odisha, the capital Bhubaneswar recorded its highest temperature in three decades at 44.1 degree Celsius on Sunday. A fall in humidity in the region has contributed to hot winds blowing in from central India, exacerbating the heat in West Bengal and Odisha. In addition, the loss of green cover in Bhubaneswar owing to large-scale tree cutting and urbanisation has further fueled these record temperatures, according to the director of the city’s meteorological department.
In Odisha’s Dhenkanal district, the now common story of water shortage and people queuing up for tanker water is being repeated after the Hirasagar pond in the region completely dried up. The state's Public Health Department, which has been bringing tanker water to the district, has reduced its supply from twice to once a day and has restricted distribution to only five buckets per family.
Water emergency
Jharkhand’s capital Ranchi, which has 11 lakh people and needs 45 million gallons of water every day, has declared a water emergency. One of the city’s three reservoirs, one has run dry and the other two are below average levels for the season, leaving the city with only half the water it needs.
In Maharashtra, a 50-tanker train carrying water has been sent to Latur district in the Marathwada region. Each tanker contains around 50,000 litres of water. This brings much-needed relief to the parched area where observers say "people do nothing except look for water" amid the worst drought in decades.
Meanwhile, savage summer conditions have done little to improve caste squabbles over water. A Dalit boy in Madhya Pradesh's Damoh district drowned while while trying to fetch water from a well last week after teachers denied him access to a school handpump. The boy's brother told reporters that teachers had ordered lower caste students not to touch the handpump. The school principal and four teachers have been suspended.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!