A record heat wave is currently sweeping through India and Pakistan, causing power cuts and water shortages for millions of people.
In the capital in New Delhi, it was close to 46 degrees this Thursday.
And this extreme heat wave is expected to rage for at least another five days in the northwest and central parts of the country, according to India's meteorological department.
“It's the first time I've seen such heat in April,” exclaims Dara Singh, 65, who has run a small street shop in Delhi since 1978. “The betel leaves I use to sell paan (chewing tobacco, editor's note) spoil faster than usual.
Usually this happens around May, at the peak of summer”.
“Temperatures are rising rapidly across the country, and rising much earlier than usual,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.
Among the many consequences of this extreme rise in temperatures, several fires broke out suddenly in several landfills around Delhi.
One of them, which occurred on Wednesday on the Bhalswa garbage mountain (60 meters high), in the north of the city, is still not under control.
The megalopolis, which has more than 20 million inhabitants, lacks modern infrastructure to process the 12,000 tons of waste it produces daily.
According to Pradeep Khandelwal, former head of Delhi's waste management department, all these fires are caused by extreme temperatures which accelerate the decomposition of organic waste.
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In northwestern Indian Rajasthan, western Gujarat and southern Andhra Pradesh, power cuts have been imposed on factories to reduce their consumption.
Several regions of this country of 1.4 billion people have already reported a significant drop in water supply.
Back in March, Delhi had already recorded a high of 40.1 degrees, the hottest temperature for that month since 1946. Since 2010, these heat waves have multiplied, killing more than 6,500 people in India.
Scientists say that due to climate change, they are and will be more frequent but also more severe.
