Authorities should consider weather and climate conditions when planning massive exercises like “one nation, one election”, Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, the chief of the India Meteorological Department, told PTI on Saturday.
The comments come ahead of the Lok Sabha elections that are scheduled to be held in seven phases between April 19 and June 1. The Election Commission consulted the Meteorological Department before announcing the poll schedule, Mohapatra told the news agency.
“We provided, at the initial stage, the climatological information for March, April, May, and June for different parts of the country so that they [poll body] can make a judicious decision on which part and at what time they should conduct the elections,” he said.
Four to eight heatwave days are expected in different parts of the country in April against a normal of one to three days, Mohapatra said. Ten to 20 days of heatwave are expected against a normal of four to eight days in the entire April-June period, he said.
The weather department, which is also relying on artificial intelligence and machine learning to enhance weather forecasts, said that Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Maharashtra, Vidarbha, Marathwada, Bihar and Jharkhand will see more heatwave days.
Some places may record over 20 days of heatwave, Mohapatra said.
“If people are in the queue, they should have sufficient water to drink,” he told the news agency. “There should be a provision for first aid and health workers to help if people faint or suffer from sunstroke and there should be shade. This is the minimum requirement in terms of preparations.”
The weather department is also providing feel-like temperature forecasts that combines the effect of temperature, humidity, and wind speed to give a better understanding of how the weather would feel outside.
“If the temperature is at least three degrees Celsius above normal and relative humidity is above normal, we are issuing a warning for that particular district or a particular area,” he said.
The death of at least 13 persons at a Navi Mumbai rally in April last year due to high heat and humidity prompted the meteorological department to issue a special warning combining heat and humidity, Mohapatra told PTI.
Also read: Is India ready for an election in extreme heat?
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