DELHI:
A heat wave in northern India has killed nearly 200 homeless people in New Delhi in the past week, a group dedicated to helping the homeless said Thursday, as the country grapples with record high summer temperatures.
As many as 52 bodies were brought to hospitals in the past two days, the Times of India reported on Thursday, adding that most of them were poor people who lived and worked in the countryside.
A total of 192 homeless people died in New Delhi between June 11 and June 19, according to government data released by the nonprofit Center for Holistic Development, higher than in previous years.
“The poorest bear the cost of such climate change. Most of these people live under flyovers and out in the countryside and have no protection from the heat. These are mostly heat deaths,” Sunil Kumar Aledia told Reuters. who runs the CHD.
India has recorded more than 40,000 suspected cases of heatstroke this summer and at least 110 confirmed deaths between March 1 and June 18, when northwest and eastern India recorded more than twice the usual number of heatwave days.
“A prolonged summer should be labeled a natural disaster,” the Hindu newspaper said in an editorial on Thursday, pointing to water shortages and record electricity demand.
The health ministry ordered federal and state institutions to ensure immediate attention to patients, while hospitals were instructed to make more beds available.
The weather service has predicted above-normal temperatures for this month as well, and Delhi witnessed its hottest night in over 50 years on Wednesday, with a minimum temperature of 35.2 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit), according to data from the meteorological department.
Temperatures, however, dropped nearly 6 degrees to 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 F) on Thursday in New Delhi after rain brought respite from the heat, weather department data showed.
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