Farmer
suicides soar in India as deadly heatwave hits 51 degrees Celsius
Sweltering
country seeks the relief of the monsoon, but this year's downpour
could be up to 11 days late as officials blame climate change
26
November, 2014
India
has set a new record for its highest-ever recorded temperature – a
searing 51 degrees Celsius or 123.8F – amid a devastating heatwave
that has ravaged much of the country for weeks.
Hundreds
of people have died as crops have withered in the fields in more than
13 states, forcing tens of thousands of small farmers to abandon
their land and move into the cities.Others have killed themselves
rather than go to live in urban shanty towns.
Rivers,
lakes and dams have dried up in many parts of the western states of
Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Gujarat.
India's
previous record high was 50.6C (123 F), which was set in 1956 in the
city of Alwar, also in Rajasthan. The world record temperature is
56.7C, which was recorded in July 1913, in Death Valley, California.
Human body temperature is normally 37C.
The
India Meteorological Department (IMD) warned that heatwave conditions
were expected to continue for much of the next week in parts of
central and north-west India, interspersed with dust and thunder
storms in places.
Dr
Laxman Singh Rathore, the IMD’s director general, firmly pinned the
blame for the rising temperatures on climate change, noting the trend
dated back about 15 years.
“It
has been observed that since 2001, places in northern India,
especially in Rajasthan, are witnessing a rising temperature trend
every year,” he said in a statement.
“The
main reason is the excessive use of energy and emission of carbon
dioxide.
“Factors
like urbanization and industrialization too have added to the global
warming phenomenon. I think similar trend would be maintained in
Rajasthan in coming days.”
In
the latest deaths from the heat, a 60-year-old woman being treated in
a hospital ward set up for heatstroke victims in Baran, Rajasthan,
died from the condition on Thursday, according to the Pradesh18.com
news website.
It
also said a 27-year-old woman h
But
the Indian Express newspaper reported that more than 400 farmers in
the Marathwada region of Maharashtra alone had taken their own lives
this year.
Kishore
Tiwari, who runs a government-backed mission to help farmers, told
the paper: “We have launched a number of schemes to halt the
suicides of farmers in Marathwada and other parts of the state.
"Among
the plans includes Food Security Act, critical illness, waiver of
fees, counselling for farmers as also vigorous implementation of crop
insurance. Since farmer suicides are growing, it is clear that our
effort will take time to yield results."
The
city of Latur in Marathwada is currently being supplied with water by
a train.
Dubbed
the Jaldoot or ‘Messenger of Water’, the train has been bringing
millions of litres of water to the city every night since April.
Ashok
Balunke, a farmer in the region, said: “It's an extremely bad
situation.
“There's
absolutely no water. The water dried up in January.”
The
country is awaiting the arrival of the much needed rainfall and
cooler temperatures brought by the annual monsoon, which normally
arrives at Kerala on 1 June.
However
it has been several days late three times over the past five years.
In 2011, it came on 29 May, but last year it was delayed until 5
June.
The
IMD’s forecast is that it will be even later this year, arriving in
Kerala on 7 June, although they have given a margin of error of four
days before or four days after this date.
Last
year, a heatwave killed about 2,500 people with the country hit by
temperatures of 47C.
At
the time, Government minister Harsh Vardhan said; "Let us not
fool ourselves that there is no connection between the unusual number
of deaths from the ongoing heat wave and the certainty of another
failed monsoon. It's not just an unusually hot summer, it is climate
change.”
UK weather: Britain could be set for 'hottest May on record' as global temperatures soar
Weekend in early May where temperatures reached a high of 27C have pushed up UK average
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