New Delhi (AFP) - A record heat wave is hitting India and Pakistan, causing power outages and water shortages for millions of people who are expected to face increasingly hot weather in the future, according to climate change experts.
The temperature in New Delhi approached 46 degrees Celsius on Thursday and this sweltering heat wave is expected to continue for another five days in northwest and central India and into the weekend in the east, according to the Indian Meteorological Department.
"It's the first time I've seen such heat in April," said Dara Singh, 65, who has run a small street shop in New Delhi since 1978.
Districts in the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh have resorted to rationing electricity in factories to reduce consumption due to the lack of coal.
Several areas of the country of 1.4 billion people have reported a decline in water supplies that will worsen until the annual monsoon rains in June and July.
In March, the temperature in New Delhi rose to 40.1°C, the highest for that month since 1946.
Heatwaves have killed more than 6,500 people in India since 2010. Scientists say that due to climate change, they are more frequent but also more intense.
Mariam Zakaria of the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London said, “With climate change, India is likely to experience higher temperatures. earlier than this month only once every 50 years.
"We can now expect such high temperatures about once every four years," she added.
- 48 degrees in Pakistan -
Neighboring Pakistan also suffered sweltering heat Thursday and the heatwave is expected to continue into next week with temperatures peaking at 48 degrees in parts of rural Sindh on Wednesday, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Society.
Farmers will need to manage water supplies wisely in a country where agriculture absorbs about 40% of the total workforce.
"The country's public health and agriculture will face serious threats due to extreme temperatures this year," Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman said.
It was the hottest March on record since 1961, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Office.