As the mercury level soars — the temperature is nearing 45°C in India — several states have been put on high alert and the government’s inaction has come into focus.
A business daily has cited a study that claims the Indian government has been indifferent to the ongoing heat stress. It adds that the heat waves are hindering the country’s development.
The researchers, the daily highlights, measured the impact of last year’s 49 degrees Celsius heat on India’s population. It concluded that rapidly rising temperatures are putting India’s population at severe risk and the situation is only going to get worse. A Heat Action Plan is the process of identifying regions vulnerable to heat waves and the measures taken to combat them.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has already cautioned about the implications of the heatwave in Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, and West Bengal.
So far, the government has failed to measure heat stress – it has not even identified regions most susceptible to rising temperatures.
Eleven people died owing to sunstroke after they attended a public gathering in Kharghar, Navi Mumbai. The heatwave has swept across Asia, causing school closures in India and record-breaking temperatures in China.
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