Bengaluru: One of the Election Commission (EC)’s major learnings from the 2024 Lok Sabha election is that it shouldn’t have conducted them in such hot weather, said chief election commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar in a press conference at New Delhi on Monday (June 3) – a day before votes cast in the election will be counted.
This learning for the EC, however, comes very late for people who have lost their lives till date due to the extreme heat they experienced during the polling season, and even while conducting polling.
Per reports, at least 56 people are confirmed to have died due to heat-related illnesses in India from March to May; and at least 25 of the people who lost their lives in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar were polling officers.
Many of these deaths occurred in May, when four of the seven phases of the election were conducted. And the month has been particularly harsh.
A report in the Indian Express quotes the India Meteorological Department (IMD) as saying that the number of heat wave days in May increased by 125% this year. It has been a scorching summer with temperatures in north, northwest and central India hovering around 48 to 49 degrees Celsius due to a heatwave – which is still ongoing as per the IMD’s latest press release on June 3.
Per the document, heat wave conditions “of reduced intensity” will continue till June 7 in northwest and eastern India.
‘Elections shouldn’t have been conducted in this heat’: CEC
In the EC’s press conference on June 3, CEC Kumar said the elections were historical in many aspects. He also claimed that “despite the heat”, the environment at polling stations was “really festive”.
Through a verse he wrote, Kumar also thanked the personnel who upheld their duty and made polling possible “despite the scorching heat” and across a variety of terrains.
Later in the press conference, however, Kumar said that one of the EC’s three major learnings from these elections is that they shouldn’t have been conducted in such hot weather. It should be completed at least one month before, and before the heat sets in, he added.
This is one learning that the EC would like to “keep”, he said.
This learning for the EC, however, comes very late for possibly hundreds of people who have lost their lives so far during the polling season, and even while conducting polling.
Per some reports, at least 61 people may have died due to heat-related causes across several states on May 31 alone; other reports such as this one quote a “confirmed” figure of 56 deaths from March to May in India this year.
Per the Indian Express, at least 100 suspected heat-stroke deaths occurred in Odisha alone; 45 of these deaths occurred in just 24 hours.
Several polling personnel also died in May. In Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, for example, 25 of the people who died were polling personnel.
Climate scientist Roxy Koll Mathew told The Wire after the second phase of elections on April 26 that the heat was affecting the elections. According to him, January-February – before the heat sets in across India – may be the best time to conduct the elections.
Spike in number of heatwave days
Per a report in the Indian Express, the number of heatwave days across the country in the month of May increased by a whopping 125% this year. Thirty-six regions or sub-divisions of the country – which usually record 92 days of heat waves this month – recorded 206 heat waves days in May this year, per the IMD.
Western Rajasthan experienced the highest number of heat wave days in the month (16 days); even on June 2, the highest temperature in the country was recorded in the region’s Sri Ganganagar at 45.4 degrees Celsius.
April too witnessed a spike in the number of heat wave days across the country, with a rise of 66%.
The EC’s revelation that elections shouldn’t be conducted during such hot weather but before it sets in, comes at a time when the IMD had warned on April 1 this year that most of India would witness temperatures above normal this summer.
Temperatures were expected to be above normal across most parts of the country between April and June this year – except for some parts of northwest India such as Jammu and Kashmir, and some parts of northeast India – IMD director general Mrutyunjay Mohapatra had said on April 1.
His presentation also showed that the number of heat wave days this year would be above normal, especially in areas such as Gujarat, central Maharashtra and north Karnataka followed by Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, north Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
That is, ten to 20 days of heat waves were expected in different parts of the country as against a normal of four to eight days.
As per a report released by the IMD on April 26 last year, the total duration of heat waves rose by about 2.5 days between 1961 and 2021 due to global warming.
Per the IMD, on average, the maximum duration of a heat wave is currently two to four days. The report added that by 2060, there will be an increase of about two heat waves per season; the duration of heatwaves too will rise by 12-18 days by 2060, the report warned.
In fact, several organisations issued warnings about the heat that 2024 would witness worldwide. For instance, the UN’s World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) warned on March 19 that 2024 will likely be far worse than 2023 (which broke global heat records across the world, including in Asia and India) and had been recorded as the hottest year ever.
The WMO even issued a “red alert” to the world about the heat that 2024 would witness.
However, the Lok Sabha elections went ahead with the announced dates (the first phase kicked off on April 16) despite this multitude of warnings.
Heat wave of “reduced intensity” to continue
Per the IMD, heat wave conditions have been prevailing over Haryana since May 17 and over Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh since May 18. And the Lok Sabha election was conducted in two of these states exactly during this time, as part of Phase 6 and 7 of the elections.
In Haryana, voting took place on May 25, as part of phase 7 of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Uttar Pradesh went to polls in all seven phases – and three of the phases occurred after May 18 (phase 5 on May 20, phase 6 on May 25 and phase 7 on June 1).
It has been a scorching summer with temperatures in these states as well as others in north, northwest and central India hovering around 48 to 49 degrees Celsius due to the heat wave – which is still ongoing as per the IMD’s latest press release on June 3.
Per the press release, heat wave conditions “of reduced intensity” will continue till June 7 in northwest and eastern India.
Heat wave conditions are “very likely” in some parts of Punjab, Haryana-Chandigarh-Delhi till June 5; Uttar Pradesh and western Rajasthan from June 3 to 7; and some parts of Jammu, Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and east Madhya Pradesh on June 3.
Odisha will experience such conditions on June 4 and 5, as well Jharkhand from June 4 to 7 and Bihar from June 6 to 7.
