Women and children carry containers after filling them with water at an abandoned stone quarry on a hot day in Chipiya Abhaypur village in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India, May 4, 2022. Reuters/Ritesh Shukla
India warned of heatwaves in six states next week, as extreme weather conditions threaten lives and livelihoods across the subcontinent.
Heatwaves are likely in parts of Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra for four days starting Sunday and in parts of Uttar Pradesh and Punjab for three days from Monday, the Indian Meterological Department said in a statement Saturday. It also said a cyclone will cross near the country’s eastern coast by May 10.
Record-high temperatures have been persisting in India in recent weeks, increasing demand for electricity to run air conditioners at a time when power plants are facing acute coal shortages. Authorities in some regions have been cutting off power supplies for as long as eight hours a day. Heat waves could also delay wheat harvests and hamper industrial activities before some respite arrives with the monsoon in June.
