Future heatwaves must be pre-empted

The heatwaves currently sweeping across the country are wreaking havoc on people and biodiversity. According to the Directorate General of Health Services, at least ten people lost their lives in heat strokes in the last week, three of them in a day on Tuesday.

Countrys temperature has already set another new record this year surpassing 43 degrees Celsius in Chuadanga. Earlier in the same place, days temperature broke the 76 years record when the mercury soared to 42.7 degrees Celsius.

But the good news is that the on-going heatwaves are likely to abate from Thursday as Met office forecasts that rain or thundershowers are likely to occur in some parts of the country mainly in Chittagong and Sylhet divisions.The country has been experiencing prolonged extreme heat since the beginning of this month that has prompted authorities to announce red alerts for several times. Classes of educational institutions were suspended. After the latest High Court rule, primary and secondary schools and madrasas will stay closed until Thursday because of extreme heat.

Rubbing salt into the wound, intermittent power cuts add to the soaring temperature causing untold sufferings to the people and hampering cultivation and industrial productivity throughout the country.  

Rural areas are the hardest hit by the power outage. Many far-flung regions of the country are now experiencing load shedding of up to 10 to 12 hours a day. This power crisis arises when the Rural Electrification Board receives only 7,000 MW against its demand of at least 10,000MW.

In general, blue-color workers like day laborers, rickshaw pullers and others who have to go out to earn a living are the most affected by the rising temperature. Even livestock, poultry birds and agricultural crops are not spared the intense heat.

People are also affected by different kinds of diseases including diarrhea, cold, fever, cough and shortness of breath. As a result, government and private hospitals across the country are swelling with patients mainly children.  

Major cities are also bearing the brunt of heatwaves. This is mainly attributed to unplanned urbanization and increasing heat felt in urban cities has become a grave concern. This is due to manifold increase of air condition use, rapid loss of green-blue space, filling of water reservoirs, construction of huge high-rise buildings and increased industrial activities.

Dhaka dwellers feel more heat than what is registered by the Met office every day as the citys land surface temperature rose by around 6.43 degrees Celsius, or 0.24C per year during the period between 1993 and 2020. As per a recent report of the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society, nearly 90% areas of Dhaka North and South City Corporations are now facing extreme heatwave with Kamrangirchar and Adabar identified as the warmest localities.

We plead with the government to learn lessons from the ongoing heatwaves and take realistic actions for greenery to mitigate extreme heat in the future.