Recurring heat waves in India’s capital, New Delhi, have taken their toll on construction worker Mamta as she toils and sweats during a grueling 12-hour workday.
“In the afternoon the situation is terrible. You feel like you are in a hot oven,” Mamta told Al Jazeera from her workplace in Delhi’s Chhatarpur district. “It’s very hard to work in such heat… but my family depends on my earnings.”
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) issued heat wave warnings for New Delhi and the neighboring states of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana on May 22.
Temperatures in certain parts of the capital, which has a population of more than 20 million, have recently passed 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit), making it one of the hottest days of the year.
According to IMD, 2023 was the warmest February since 1901, with a maximum temperature of 29.5C (85.1F).
The IMD said temperatures will drop if downpours are expected in areas swept by the heatwave and that this will provide much-needed relief. However, it warned that more torrid weather is ahead in the coming weeks and months.
“India has always been a hot country and extreme heat is a fact of life,” Aditya Pillai of the Center of Policy Research (CPR) told Al Jazeera.
“But the number of extremely hot days and heat waves, which are consecutive hot days, has increased across the country,” he said, citing climate change and rising temperatures as “big drivers” behind the increase.
a study published earlier this month showed that heat waves in South Asian countries, including India, Bangladesh and Thailand, were 30 times more likely to be due to the climate crisis.
Health issues
In addition to the frustration and discomfort of working in high temperatures, heat waves can lead to health problems and even deaths.
In April, 13 people died of heat stroke in the state of Maharashtra after about a million attendees waited for hours in the sun at an awards ceremony. Since 2010, an estimated 6,500 people have died from heat-related illnesses.
Mamta, the construction worker, said she sometimes feels fatigued and suffers from recurring headaches because of the humidity.
Digambar Behera, a leading pulmonologist in India, said common problems associated with heat waves include dehydration, exhaustion and loss of electrolytes.
“There are other problems, such as kidney injury,” he said. “People who work outdoors should take measures such as adequate fluids and electrolytes such as glucose, and avoid direct sun exposure,” he noted.
Behera said that during heat waves, hospital emergencies related to heatstroke and fatigue are on the rise, especially among those enduring chronic conditions and most vulnerable.
‘punished poor’
Mamta, a mother of two, said her problems are explained by the fact that her husband is unable to work in the heat due to health problems. “I can’t skip work… Working in the heat is like torture… but no matter how hot it gets, I have to get outside.”
Originally from the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, Mamta said she moved to New Delhi in search of better pay. Currently she earns $5-6 a day.
Another Delhi resident, Mohammad Salim Khan, who works 13-hour days as a welder, also said he has no choice but to continue toiling in the potentially deadly heat.
“Whether it’s hot or cold, I don’t have the option to stay at home,” said the father-of-three who earns $4-5 daily.
Khan, 50, said working outside the home is a tedious undertaking, but there is also little lighting for him at home.
“We have an air cooler at home, but it doesn’t work well in high humidity. The nights are hard and sleeping is a struggle,” he added, pointing out that his house has no air conditioning.
The welder lives with his wife and three children in a dilapidated one-bedroom apartment in Seelampur, a low-income town with cramped buildings in the Shahdara district of northeast Delhi.
“Only the poor are most punished in such extreme weather conditions,” Khan said.
Rise in global temperatures
Aditi Mukherji, climate change director at the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), said unless there is a “drastic” reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, heatwaves will continue and will affect the poorest in society the most.
She highlighted the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report that said, for the planet to stay within a 1.5°C (2.7°F) rise in temperature by the end of the century, carbon emissions need to drop by 45 to 50 percent by 2030.
“However, not only are emissions not decreasing, they have been increasing globally in recent years after a temporary slowdown due to COVID,” Mukherji said.
The 2015 Paris Agreement, ratified by more than 190 states, called for a 1.5°C limit on global temperature rise to limit the most adverse effects of climate change.
Mukherji said that while many Indian cities had heat action plans in place, research has found these to be largely inadequate or not properly implemented. An analysis of 37 federal and regional heat action plans by CPR found that many had serious gaps, often excluding the most vulnerable communities.
“Because heat exposure, especially high heat and humidity, can cause high mortality and morbidity, it is extremely important that governments pay particular attention to providing assistance to vulnerable populations by providing heat shelters,” Mukherji said.
“Better urban planning — such as planting more trees to provide shade, particularly in poorer neighborhoods, better housing infrastructure — will also go a long way toward better adaptation to heat stress.”