Even as the country awaits the counting of votes that is expected to take place on June 4, the country is already counting the number of people who have died due to heat and heat related causes as searing hot temperatures continue to plague large parts of north, central and east India with the temperatures crossing the 50 degree Celsius mark for much of the week gone by.
Among those who have been affected by the heat wave are daily wage workers most of whom are employed doing outdoor manual jobs and polling officials -- mostly security staff who are posted outdoors. The official number of people who have died so far across the country due to heat and heat related causes has crossed 100 so far with the number believed to be a huge underestimation as several deaths that take place are passed off as deaths due to other causes like heart attack etc, as not all casualties display heat stroke like symptoms. Besides, several of those affected will either succumb over the coming days or will face life-long effects of the episode they have suffered.
Even as the deaths mount, the state has been found wanting and has failed to adequately deal with the situation. No doubt that various government authorities including the weather department, the labour department, the health department and administrative authorities have been issuing directions warning against being outdoors especially during the afternoon hours, however, these directions mean very little for those who are forced to be outdoors in order to earn their livelihood or are in a job that requires them to be outdoors on government duty or for safety and security reasons.
Instead of its ham handed approach to the recurring heat waves that are now the new normal, the government needs to take up a comprehensive plan for the care of its citizens -- especially the poor who are forced to work in inhumane conditions in order to earn their livelihood. The state needs a mechanism to penalise employers who fail to adequately provide for their workers working in the outdoor heat either with adequate protective gear, or through a change in working hours so that they can complete the same tasks at a time when it is not as unbearable as the afternoon.
Similarly the government needs to offer a safety net to the daily wagers, the rickshaw pullers and others who are forced to be outdoors during the afternoon hours in order to earn a livelihood simply because not being outdoors would mean going hungry at night. Instead what we have is a government that is hoping that the problem will go away -- something that needs to be dealt with until the monsoons arrive as a stop gap arrangement or something that will treat itself over the years to come. However, what we need to remember is that this year is no exception. In fact, despite how hot it is, this year will likely be the coolest year of the rest of our lives. Global warming is here to stay and will only get worse over the coming years.
The country, and the world at large has witnessed the hottest years on record consecutively for the last five to six years. It would be foolish to not be prepared for what’s to come and only pursue stop gap arrangements without a long-term plan in place for how to deal with what will clearly now be an annual affair. It’s time citizens demand that their government wake up and see the writing on the wall, else it could be us or our loved ones lying on a hospital bed from heatstroke.
