INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
During the early hours of Saturday morning, an area of low pressure over the east-central Bay of Bengal intensified, and has been named
the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued warnings for heavy rain, strong winds, storm surges, and rough seas
Cumulative rainfall totals through the first half of this week could reach 200-300mm across the majority of Bangladesh, north-eastern states
of India, and West Bengal
More than 150mm is also possible across southern parts of Bhutan and western Myanmar.The IMD expects damage to power and communication
lines, flooding, flying debris, trees to be uprooted, and traffic disruption
In response to these warnings, the National Disaster Response Force has deployed 12 teams, with five more on standby
Rescue and relief from the army, navy, and coastguard, along with ships and aircraft, have also been placed on standby.Kolkata airport in
West Bengal suspended all flight operations for 21 hours from Sunday, leading to the cancellation of almost 400 flights, affecting 63,000
people.At the same time, temperatures across north-western India and Pakistan will remain about 4C to 6C above the climatological average
through the next few days, with peak temperatures reaching the mid to high 40s celsius
The IMD has issued a red alert for heatwave conditions across Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, and western Uttar Pradesh, with
the effects including a very high likelihood of developing heatstroke or heat-related illnesses
In addition to high daytime temperatures, minimum night-time temperatures are unlikely to fall below 30C.Multiple locations exceeded 50C
this past weekend, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department, and a peak temperature of 53C was recorded at Mohenjo-Daro on Sunday
Several regions across Pakistan and India are already facing water and electricity shortages due to sharp rises in power consumption, and
Delhi recorded its highest power demand in history on 22 May
Eleven people have already died of suspected heat-related causes across western India and Pakistan late last week, with 486 suspected
heatstroke cases in India on 22 May alone.
This article first appeared/also appeared in theguardian.com
