Animals collapse, water shortages bite amid India's searing heat

NEW DELHI — Animals collapsed, people jumped on water tankers with buckets amid shortages and government employees changed their work hours as blistering summer heat kept its grip on north India on Thursday (May 30).

Although Thursday's readings were marginally lower in Delhi than the previous day when one area recorded an all-time high of 52.9 degree Celsius, the region still saw temperatures touching 47 C.

Delhi, which has a population of 20 million, recorded its first heat-related death on Wednesday, with a 40-year old labourer dying of heatstroke, local media reported. Authorities said they are investigating if the 52.9 C reading in the Mungeshpur neighbourhood on Wednesday was caused by a sensor error at the local weather station.

Television images showed people chasing water tankers or climbing on top of them in parts of the city to fill containers amidst an acute water shortage that the government blames on low levels in the Yamuna River — Delhi's primary source of water.

Along the river's banks, women in shanties endured stifling conditions in their homes as their cooking stoves aggravated the sweltering weather.

"The heat is worse this year. We work like this everyday so we get into the habit," said Seema, 19, who cooks for her family twice a day.

In the neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh, a policeman used CPR to revive a monkey that he said had fainted and fallen from a tree because of the heat, pumping its chest for 45 minutes, local media reported, and Delhi also saw cases of heatstroke among birds.

As more people chose to order food and groceries by home delivery instead of venturing out in the heat, delivery personnel have been spending more time on their scooters and motorbikes, their employers said.

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