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India's poor can't afford to beat the heat

July 10, 2021 / 9:50 AM
Sharjah24 - AFP: Beating the merciless heat is hard in the Indian desert city of Sri Ganganagar, a reality facing millions across the vast country as the climate changes in the coming decades.
While people in richer nations can find some respite from a warming planet with air conditioners and other modern luxuries, many here\and elsewhere in India don't even have running water.

Sri Ganganagar, in the desert state of Rajasthan near the Pakistan border, is regularly India's hottest place and temperatures of 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) are nothing out of the ordinary.

So the district's two million people, equivalent to the population of Slovenia,  get up early during the long summer months.

By late morning the sun is already ferocious and the temperature a brutal 42 Celsius, and everyone soon retreats to their homes until early evening.

"By noon only those who can't avoid it are outside. We just sit under this," said fruit vendor Dinesh Kumar Shah, gesturing to his large black umbrella.

Only a lucky few have air conditioning, with most people using fans and cheaper air coolers, in between power cuts, and thick green curtains called tarpals to block out the sun.
July 10, 2021 / 9:50 AM

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