India burns as temperatures top 44 degrees Celsius amid extreme heatwave
- The extreme heat has swept across large areas of South Asia this week, and follows India’s hottest March in 122 years
- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned temperatures were ‘rising rapidly’ and ‘much earlier than usual’ – sending the risk of fires soaring
“Temperatures are rising rapidly in the country, and rising much earlier than usual,” Modi told heads of India’s state governments in an online conference.
More than a billion people are at risk of heat-related health effects, scientists said. In the capital New Delhi, temperatures have soared past 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) for several days and are forecast to linger around 44 degrees until Sunday, with peak summer heat still to come before cooling monsoon rains arrive in June.
“We are seeing increasing incidents of fires in various places – in jungles, important buildings and in hospitals – in the past few days,” Modi said.
He asked states to conduct fire-safety audits for hospitals. Dozens of people die every year in fires at Indian hospitals and factories, mainly because of illegal construction and lax safety standards.
Fires in Delhi’s garbage dumps also contribute to the toxic air in the world’s most polluted capital.