A heat wave that has been raging for several weeks in India and Pakistan led to power cuts in both countries on Friday, April 29, worsening the living conditions of millions of inhabitants.

The exceptionally hot months of March and April pushed up energy demand in India and especially in Pakistan, so that power plants are now running out of coal to meet demand.

Several Pakistani towns suffered up to eight hours of power cuts a day last week, while rural areas suffered power cuts for half the day.

"There is an electricity crisis and load shedding across the country," said Energy Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan, referring to shortages and "technical failures".

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However, temperatures are expected to be 8°C above the seasonal normal in parts of Pakistan, to peak at 48°C in parts of rural Sindh on Wednesday, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Society. 

Possible power cuts in Delhi hospitals

Scientists say that due to climate change, heat waves are more frequent but also more severe.

In the Indian megalopolis of New Delhi, where the temperature reached 43.5 ° C on Friday, the authorities estimate that there remains "less than a day of coal" in stock in many power stations. 

"The situation across India is dire," said Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi's chief minister, who warned of possible cuts to hospitals and the capital's metro.

India has even canceled some passenger trains to speed up the delivery of coal to power plants, according to Bloomberg News.

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Coal reserves at Indian power plants have indeed fallen by almost 17% since the beginning of April, falling to barely a third of the required levels, according to the same source.

Wildfires around the town where the Dalai Lama resides

In Calcutta, in eastern India, after a series of malaises in public transport, sugar water was distributed to passengers.

"Without rain for more than 57 days, Kolkata is in the grip of the longest drought in this millennium," said Sanjit Bandyopadhyay of the Regional Meteorological Center.

At this time of the year, in the highlands of the state of Himachal Pradesh, rain, hail and even snow normally fall but for two months not a drop of water and temperatures are breaking records. 

As a result, hundreds of fires have reduced pine forests to ashes, especially around Dharamsala, the city where the Dalai Lama lives.

"Most of these fires are ground fires that spread through the pine forests, which are the most vulnerable to fires," state forestry chief Ajay Srivastava told AFP.

“Teams of firefighters are working hard to put out these fires and also to save wild animals,” he added, adding that the emergency services had to ask for help from local residents.

A pink elixir to quench thirst

For Muslims observing Ramadan, the heat has made fasting difficult.

As the sun set, vendors did a thriving trade in Rooh Afza, a pink, sweet elixir that has been popular for generations on the subcontinent to quench thirst.

The heat wave also led to the closure of schools or the reduction of class hours.

In Patna, the state capital of Bihar, sunstroke has increased over the past ten days, as have the number of children suffering from fever, vomiting and diarrhoea.

The authorities ordered the end of the courses at 10:45 a.m. and recommended not to go out in the afternoon.

A plague for the economy because if "people stay at home during the day, we are struggling to earn our living", sums up a rickshaw driver, Rameshwar Paswan. 

With AFP

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