India Heatwave Continues to Affect Day Laborers and Poor People

As an extreme heatwave in India continues, over 1,400 people have lost their lives from the extreme temperatures, most of whom are the poor and day laborers who cannot shelter themselves from the sun. 

The worst-hit provinces have been the southern regions of Andhra Pradesh, where more than 1,000 people have lost their lives since mid-April, mostly in the last two weeks. Over 340 people have also died the neighboring state of Telangana, where temperatures reached 48 degrees Celsius over the weekend.

Most of the victims have been elderly people or the poor who live in slums in the cities and do not have electricity, access to air conditioners or even trees to shelter themselves from the scorching sun. 

Near a homeless shelter in Delhi, dozens of men tried to keep cool in the shade of nearby trees, while others begged from the drivers of vehicles waiting at nearby traffic lights. 

“If they give me anything I spend it on water at the moment not food,” said Deepak Ram Lal, a local homeless man.  

Day laborers have also been vulnerable, particularly outdoor vendors, rickshaw drivers and construction workers, because they cannot afford to take time off work and shelter themselves indoors. 

“If I don’t work due to the heat, how will my family survive?” said Mahalakshmi, a construction worker in the city of Nizamabad who earns a daily wage of about US$3.10. 

“Either we have to work, putting our lives under threat, or we go without food,” said Narasimha, a farmer in the badly hit Nalgonda district of southern Andhra Pradesh state.

Earlier this week, the India government launched an awareness campaign advising people to stay indoors between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., to wear broad-brimmed hats and light-colored cotton clothes, use umbrellas and drink lots of fluid. They also requested that all non-government organizations and government bodies open water camps to the public.

India's government has also promised to provide monetary compensation to families of the dead, although they have not stipulated how much. According to experts, the death toll may be vastly underestimated since the elderly and sick are some of the most vulnerable, making it hard to prove if deaths are directly associated with the heatwave. 

According to media reports, temperatures have subsided somewhat since Thursday and cooler weathers and monsoon rains are expected by the end of next week, which will bring some relief to the country. 

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