'The New Normal': Ten of Thousands Flee Extreme Heatwave in India as Temperatures Topping 120°F Kill Dozens Across Country
Nearly 50 people died on Saturday in one Indian state as record-breaking heatwaves across the country have caused an increasingly desperate situation.
Officials in Bihar reported that as of Monday, 76 people in total had died of heat-related conditions as temperatures in the region hovered around 113 degrees Fahrenheit. Hospitals have increasingly overflowed with patients reporting heatstroke since the heatwave began in early June.
Across the country in the city of Aurangabad, India Today reported, 22 died just on Saturday. The death toll that day in the northern city of Gaya was 20.
About two-thirds of India is facing the heatwaves at the same time that roughly half of the country is struggling through its worst drought in six decades.
Officials on Sunday asked Bihar’s 100 million people to stay inside Monday as fears of more fatalities grew.
In 2015, a prolonged heatwave killed more than 3,500 in India and Pakistan.
More than 1,000 miles south of Bihar, The Guardian reported, residents in Tamil Nadu have also been ordered to stay indoors between 11:00am and 4:00pm.
June’s heatwave is already one of the longest India has ever seen. While temperatures tend to rise in the country ahead of monsoon season, the deadly heatwaves have caused alarm among climate campaigners and Indian authorities.
Thermometers registered 118 degrees in Dehli last week, while in Rajasthan, residents suffered through a 122-degree day last week.
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