Ponds have dried up, animal carcasses lay strewn on the roads and households survive on a single pot of water per day. With the country hit by a heatwave that has claimed over 300 lives, extreme drought in different parts of India has made living conditions worse for the people and animals, alike.
Jaisalmer in Rajasthan has registered 52.4 degrees, while the national Capital faced an unpleasant 42 degrees Celsius recently. Down south Orissa endured 45.4 degrees Celsius, while Kerala dwindled between 42 and 45 degrees. In the north Amritsar recorded 42.3 degrees and Chandigarh touched 44.7 degrees Celsius.
State governments are engaged in taking necessary steps; shutting down schools, arranging for potable water, and in the case of Bihar, forbidding any cooking from 9 am to 6 pm. The extreme conditions provoked fires as towns and thatched-roof houses in villages were reduced to ash, killing dozens.
“We call this the fire season in Bihar,” said a state disaster management official. “Strong, westerly winds stoke fires which spread easily and cause great damage.” People have been urged not to burn anything during the day and instead, cook at night.
The severe conditions have damaged crops, killed livestock and left at least 330 million people without enough water for their daily needs. Water sources have dried up in Maharashtra and Gujarat, with officials citing groundwater reservoirs at a mere 22% capacity. One of the worst hit, Andhra Pradesh government has begun advising its people to stay indoors, especially labourers who are urged to seek shade. Farmers in the region have migrated to different cities and town, all in search of manual labour.
While the agricultural sector suffers, more than 150 Indian leaders and activists have signed an open letter to the Prime Minister, sharing their “collective anxiety about the enormous suffering of the rural people”. They have asked the government to provide 100 days of paid work a year for the poor and unemployed.
Uttarakhand Forest Fire
Almost 3,466 hectares of forested land have been ravaged by blazing flames in a record 1,591 incidents of fire as the fire season began in February. Firefighting operations are continuing days after the triggered incident with only 70% of the fire doused. Three IAF choppers were used to sprinkle water on flaming forests along with 11,000 personnel fighting the blaze from the grounds. So far, six lives have been claimed by the unfortunate chain of events.
India faces the heatwave followed by drought in several regions for the second consecutive year. Even with the impending chances of the heatwave expected by the officials, very little was done to prevent it.
