India’s capital Delhi sees first heat-related death in 2024: Media reports
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A man rides his cycle near a landfill site on a hot summer day during a heatwave in New Delhi, India, on May 27, 2024.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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NEW DELHI – India’s capital Delhi recorded its first heat-related death in 2024 as temperatures reached record highs, media reported on May 30.
Parts of north-west and central India have been experiencing heatwave to severe heatwave conditions for weeks, and the temperature in Delhi reached a record high of 52.9 deg C in Mungeshpur neighbourhood on May 29.
That reading may be revised however, as maximum temperatures in other parts of the city ranged from 45.2 deg C to 49.1 deg C.
The capital territory’s first heat-related fatality in 2024 was a 40-year-old labourer who died of heatstroke on May 29, The Indian Express newspaper reported.
Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor on May 29 directed the government to ensure measures were taken to protect labourers by providing water and shaded areas at construction sites and granting them paid leave from noon to 3pm.
Delhi recorded a temperature of 36 deg C, which felt like 37.8 deg C, on the morning of May 30, according to India's weather department.
It has predicted heatwave to severe heatwave conditions over north-west and central India will begin reducing gradually from May 30.
India classifies a heatwave as a situation where the maximum temperature is 4.5 deg C to 6.4 deg C above normal, while a severe heatwave occurs when the maximum is higher than normal by 6.5 deg C or more. REUTERS
