STORY: Environmentalists warn of severe impacts as extreme heatwave grips northern India
SHOOTING TIME: May 27, 2024
DATELINE: May 28, 2024
LENGTH: 00:04:01
LOCATION: New Delhi 
CATEGORY: ENVIRONMENT

SHOTLIST:
1. shot of India gate
2. various of heatwave and people drinking water
3. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): AVINASH CHANCHAL, Campaign manager for Greenpeace India
4. various of heatwave
5. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): AVINASH CHANCHAL, Campaign manager for Greenpeace India

STORYLINE:

Avinash Chanchal, campaign manager for Greenpeace India, has warned of severe impacts as extreme heatwave grips northern India.

The mercury has been hovering at nearly 50 degrees Celsius in parts of north and northwest India for the past couple of days, triggering widespread concerns among citizens and authorities alike.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the heatwave is likely to continue for the next few days and is affecting the states of Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, and western parts of Uttar Pradesh.

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): AVINASH CHANCHAL, Campaign manager for Greenpeace India
"We are witnessing the more than, like, the 40 degrees Celsius, 45 degrees Celsius. Every day, it looks like every month, every week, it looks like it's breaking the last temperature records. So certainly, there are different reasons. Like, one, definitely a meteorological reason, but also at the same time, how, I can say, like, how the whole land use changes have been happening especially in Indian cities due to the urbanization and how we are also witnessing. And it's not me who is saying this, but even the IPCC (AR 6) report (The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) very clearly which got published last year, which clearly made a link between these heatwaves or such extreme weather events and climate change. So definitely the climate change and the emissions, the greenhouse gas emissions, have been contributing to urban heat islands effects in our cities. So the meteorological reasons are there, but how it became more frequent and intense is because of the burning fossil fuel."

The health impacts of the heatwave are equally alarming. Chanchal pointed out that heatwaves are becoming a public health crisis, with a significant increase in heat-related mortality over the past two decades.

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): AVINASH CHANCHAL, Campaign manager for Greenpeace India
"See, definitely, it's known how heatwaves are becoming a public health crisis nowadays. We have been seeing the mortality rate has increased in the past 20 years. From 1995 to 2015, we witnessed 24,000 heat-related deaths. And I'm talking about these numbers, which are officially acknowledged, but we know that most of the time, the deaths because of heatwaves are going undocumented. So we're not really capturing the real data. At the same time, there are other short-term, immediate health impacts, like different kinds of heat-related illnesses. Heat exhaustion and heat strokes are becoming very common nowadays. It also increases migration and can impact preterm births. It really impacts pregnant women. So there are different kinds of heat-related illnesses we are witnessing."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from New Delhi.
(XHTV)