Campaign rallies under a blazing sun, long treks to rural polling stations – as Indians prepare to vote, forecasts for extreme heat could add to the challenges of holding the world’s biggest election.
With voting starting today, parties and authorities are being urged to do more to keep voters, candidates, and polling station staff safe following heat warnings by the meteorological service for the six-week election period. During the April-June hot weather season, various parts of the country could record 10 to 20 heatwave days compared to the normal four to eight, head of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said earlier this month.
“Most parts of the south peninsula, central India, east India, and plains of northwest India will experience above normal heatwave days with temperatures hitting or crossing 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit),” Mohapatra told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
While hot weather is part of everyday life in much of India, the intensity and frequency of heat waves are rising due to climate change, increasing the risk of working or other outdoor activities.
Eleven people died and several more were hospitalised with heatstroke after they attended a political event held under the afternoon sun in Maharashtra last April. Anxious to avoid similar tragedies, the Election Commission of India has instructed electoral officers in each state to raise awareness about the dangers of extreme weather conditions and take steps to help voters cope with the scorching heat.
The measures for polling stations include ensuring the availability of drinking water, rigging up canopies for shade, and providing childcare facilities. They will also need to have medical kits, healthcare volunteers, and ambulances on hand on voting days.
“A billion people will come out to vote … It’s going to be very challenging for us,” Kiren Rijiju, India’s earth science minister, said this month. “All the states have made elaborate preparations.” However, electoral authorities have issued no specific heat guidance for campaign rallies.
“There should be strict guidelines on hours of the day when rallies and meetings can be organised, if there is a heatwave,” said Dileep Mavalankar, the former director of Gandhinagar-based Indian Institute of Public Health.
Rallies should be suspended or moved indoors where possible, ambulances and paramedics should be on hand and local hospitals on standby said Mavalankar, who helped draw up the first heat action plan for Ahmedabad in 2013.
Heat stress occurs at temperatures above 35C in high humidity, according to the International Labor Organization. Heat stroke can occur if body temperature rises above 40C, with children, the elderly, and people with pre-existing conditions most at risk.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from Reuters)
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As Lok Sabha polls 2024 start, will extreme heat be a threat to voters? Here’s what IMD has to say
