Residents of a city in the north-west of India have called for government help as temperatures reached 51C (123.8F), the highest the country has experienced since records began. Hospitals struggle to cope as patient numbers soar and cold water in short supply after hottest day.
“[Thursday] was the hottest temperature ever recorded in the country:
51C in Phalodi,” BP Yadav, a director of India’s meteorological
department, said on Friday.
Ranjeet Singh, a local police constable, said: “The ground is so hot, you could cook chapatis on it.”
One man from the town died from heatstroke on Friday at a nearby
railway station. Chanda said the heat was so extreme that the hospital
was struggling to meet demand from patients. Children are particularly
vulnerable to sunstroke, and the hospital has seen a rise in the number
of cases of diarrhoea and vomiting.
“The government needs to do something – they need to put up tents and
offer cold water in places like railway stations where people gather.
The local administration has done nothing so far,” Chanda said. Last
year, more than 1,500 people died in India because of heatwaves.
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