Crippling heatwave

Barely two months after a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change red-flagged India’s vulnerabilities to extreme heat, the inevitable seems to be happening — far earlier than feared. Many parts of the country are in the grip of a severe heatwave that is impacting millions of lives as well as livelihoods. A nationwide surge in electricity demand has triggered a power crisis, putting coal supplies under considerable strain. Agriculture, the most resilient sector during the Covid-19 pandemic, is struggling to withstand the tough conditions, with wheat yields dropping alarmingly due to the inclement weather. The writing was on the wall last month itself as India recorded its hottest March in over 120 years.

There is general consensus among experts that the extreme temperatures are directly linked to climate change. For long, India has been slow off the blocks on this critical front. During the COP26 summit at Glasgow in November last year, PM Modi had announced enhanced climate targets for India — increasing the non-fossil energy capacity to 500 gigawatts and meeting 50 per cent of the country’s energy needs through renewable sources by 2030. However, there is apprehension that this deadline will be missed as several states, including Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana, are not doing enough to substantially increase their non-fossil energy capacity. It is inexplicable and ironical that solar energy’s vast potential remains underexploited in a country which witnesses sunny days for the better part of the year.

The emissions caused by the burning of coal and other fossil fuels are worsening the situation. One of the world’s major consumers of coal, India needs to expedite its phase-down and phase-out plans for this polluting fuel, overdependence on which can spell disaster in the not-so-distant future. The country’s food security can also come under threat if immediate efforts are not made to sensitise farmers about opting for climate-smart practices such as judiciously using fast-dwindling natural resources. The heat has already started to singe us and we no longer have the luxury of putting off till tomorrow what we must do today to arrest the slide. It’s now or never.