Pakistan heat wave kills 1,000
Lack of energy and water security being blamed for disaster hitting Karachi and Sindh
A severe heat wave in Pakistan has now killed more than 1,000 people with a lack of energy and water security being blamed for the disaster.
Temperatures have reached 45°C (113°F) with heat stroke causing an estimated 1,000 deaths and thousands more requiring medical treatment.
Officials have launched an emergency response effort but limited infrastructure and the unpredictable extreme weather patterns have made the crisis devastating.
The heat wave has particularly affected Karachi, Pakistan’s most populous city, with the majority of those who have lost their lives either elderly or low-income residents.
Nearly 1,700 died in a heat wave that swept the India in May.
Reports suggest that the impact of the heat wave has been compounded by the fact that the majority of Pakistan’s population are fasting in daylight hours for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
A lack of energy security in Pakistan means that communities across the country face power outages that can last between 10 and 20 hours with people unable to run air-conditioners or electric fans, exacerbating the problem further.
According to the state-run water utility service, electricity shortages in Karachi often stop water supply systems from pumping millions of gallons of water to residents.
90 per cent of Pakistanis ranked electricity shortages as a bigger concern than unemployment, crime, inequality, health care, corruption, or sectarian violence, in a recent survey conducted by Pew.
Thousands of residents in Karachi and across Sindh have burned tires to protest the government’s inability to prevent the shocking death toll from climbing.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ordered the National Disaster Management Authority to take immediate action, and provincial and local authorities have similarly mobilized
On Tuesday, Syed Qaim Ali Shah, the Chief Minister of the Pakistani province of Sindh, said: “I want to inform you that a disaster management [system] already exists, not just for rains and storms but for such situations as well. We are closing offices, schools and colleges not just in Karachi but throughout Sindh,” Shah said, noting that “offices that offer essential services like hospitals will remain open.”
Local authorities have been instructed to open heatstroke relief centres in Karachi and other areas of Sindh province.
