Severe heatwave over northwest and central India, warns IMD

HEat on undulation to wicked heat up undulation conditions are likely to prevail over the plains of northwest India and central India during the week, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) warned on Monday.IMD also warned of severe, large-scale heat waves over Uttar Pradesh during the week. So far, this summer, heat episodes over northwest India dissipated quickly due to intermittent thunderstorms over the region.Southwest monsoon further advanced into more parts of the southeast Arabian Sea, some parts of Comorin area, more parts of the southwest and southeast Bay of Bengal, most parts of Andaman Sea, the entire Andaman & Nicobar Islands and some parts of the east-central Bay of Bengal.However, hot conditions are likely to impact most of north India.On Sunday, maximum temperatures were markedly above normal (5.1 to 6°C) at few places over east and west Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat; at isolated places over Bihar, east Uttar Pradesh, west Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu-Kashmir Ladakh-Gilgit-Baltistan, Muzaffarabad and east Rajasthan; appreciably above normal (3.1°C to 5.0°C) at a few places over Saurashtra & Kutch, Madhya Maharashtra and Vidarbha; at isolated places over Gangetic West Bengal, Uttarakhand and Marathwada.“We are not expecting any weather system to bring rain immediately. We can expect severe, large-scale heat waves over Uttar Pradesh. Over surrounding areas also we can expect scattered heat waves. People should be prepared and take necessary precautions,” said M Mohapatra, director general, IMD.Also Read:Delhi temperature set to rise over next two days, IMD issues yellow alert for heatwaveHeat wave conditions are likely to prevail over Jammu-Kashmir-Ladakh and central Maharashtra on Monday and Tuesday; Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh until May 24; Vidarbha until May 23; Chhattisgarh; coastal Andhra Pradesh and Yanam from May 20 to 24; Bihar, Marathawada and Telangana until Wednesday.Heat wave to severe heat wave conditions are likely over a few pockets of west Uttar Pradesh till May 24, IMD warned.Heat wave conditions over a few pockets likely to prevail over East Uttar Pradesh on Monday with heat wave to severe heat wave conditions over few pockets in east Uttar Pradesh during May 19 and 20, over isolated pockets till May 24. Warm night conditions are in isolated pockets likely to prevail over west Uttar Pradesh on May 19.Hot and humid conditions are likely in isolated pockets over Odisha till May 22; coastal Andhra Pradesh and Yanam on May 19.Scattered to isolated light to moderate rainfall with thunderstorm, lightning and gusty winds (speed reaching 40-50 kmph) will be limited to higher reaches over Jammu-Kashmir during May 19 and 22; Uttarakhand during May 20 to 22; with thunderstorm, lightning and gusty winds (speed reaching 30-40 kmph) likely over Himachal Pradesh on May 21 and 22. Strong surface winds (speed reaching 20-30 kmph gusting to 40 kmph) over Punjab, Haryana Chandigarh & Delhi, Uttar Pradesh till May 24.IMD issued an orange alert for large parts of northwest and central India for the next three days. It also warned of increased likelihood of heat illness symptoms in people who are either exposed to sun for a prolonged period or doing heavy work.There is high health concern for vulnerable people, including infants, elderly, people with chronic diseases.In its agromet advisory, IMD advised for Punjab to apply light and frequent irrigation to vegetable, moong fruit plants, orchards and onion nurseries. In Haryana it asked to maintain adequate irrigation in standing sugarcane, cotton and summer fodder crops. It also advised complete paddy nursery preparation with assured irrigation facilities and adopt mulching/moisture conservation practices to reduce water stress in newly sown crops.In Uttar Pradesh, it asked to provide frequent irrigation and mulching for standing crops such as maize, green gram, black gram, sugarcane, sunflower, vegetables, and fruit plants such as mango, banana, and papaya.Experts recommended that heat action plans kick in in advance.“I think what past extreme events have shown us is that when you are reacting, you’re coming in after an extreme event has happened, this means you’re already behind the ball. What needs to happen is you need to be prepared for the extreme event, and then you will be able to respond to it more effectively,” said Adelle Thomas, senior director, climate adaptation, Environmental Health at Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) who attended the Global Heat and Cooling Forum in Delhi last month.“So this means having a plan in place beforehand, and then enacting that plan. I think what’s important are early warning systems, so that people are aware that heat is coming. Having things in place to help people who do not have access to cooling...having cooling centers, letting people know where they can go, letting people know that they need to go, because some people may not be aware that they are at high risk of heat,” she added.Responding to HT’s question on the impact on informal workforce, Adelle said, “NRDC is working on this in the US, looking at workers that are at high risk of heat and actually protecting their rights to live, because the heat stress can easily turn into heat mortality, particularly when people are not aware of the risks. I think there absolutely need to be enforceable mechanisms in place, whether that’s policies or legislation that requires employers to make sure that their employees are safe. And if it means allowing for breaks, allowing for cooling, allowing for water breaks, changing when we work outside...all of these things need to be enacted into enforceable measures that protect workers.”