<
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/30/unliveable-delhis-residents-struggle-to-cope-in-record-breaking-heat>
"As the water tanker drove into a crowded Delhi neighbourhood, a ruckus
erupted. Dozens of residents ran frantically behind it, brandishing buckets,
bottles and hoses, and jumped on top of it to get even a drip of what was
stored inside. Temperatures that day had soared to 49C (120F), the hottest day
on record – and in many places across India’s vast capital, home to more than
29 million people, water had run out.
Every morning, Tripti, a social health worker who lives in the impoverished
enclave of Vivekanand Camp, is among those who has to stand under the blazing
sun with buckets and pots, waiting desperately for the water tanker to arrive.
“People have to wait for two to three hours in the queue for just for the
couple of buckets of water,” she said. “The increasing temperature has made it
worse. As the heat is increasing, we need more water but the supply is in fact
decreasing. We are suffering badly and heat is making it impossible to live.”
Delhi is no stranger to heat. Its summers always bring stiflingly hot
temperatures and the rich confine themselves to their air-conditioned homes,
while poor households gather beneath fans and cover themselves with wet rags.
The consensus among experts and residents is that the summer temperatures are
now regularly rising far above the norm as India bears the brunt of the climate
crisis. A heatwave has enveloped much of north India in May – this week
temperatures consecutively rose above 45C – making conditions unbearable and
even life threatening for the millions who cannot afford to cool themselves
down or are forced to work outside in construction or labouring jobs. Some
parts of the city recorded temperatures as high as 52C on Wednesday, though
officials later said that may have been a faulty reading."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
