Pakistan is facing a heatwave with temperatures exceeding 52° in the southern Pakistani province of Sindh. A temperature close to the national record set at 54 degrees. Extreme temperatures have worsened in this country as in the rest of Asia, most likely due to climate change. Pakistan is the fifth most vulnerable country to the impact of climate change.
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In Punjab, the most populous province of Pakistanthe authorities decided to close schools until May 31, and called on the population to stay at home or avoid unnecessary travel.
It must be said that the air is dry and heavy in Lahore. Those who dare to go out cover their heads with a wet cloth. In homes, families who are crowded together in the same room struggle to breathe.
Waheed ud-din lives in the old city. He doesn’t have running water at home. He only has one fan which he uses for only a few hours a day.
It’s very hard, especially at night. Often I wake up in the middle of the night, sweating and choking. I have to go outside to get some fresh air. I don’t have money to buy an air conditioner, or even to pay for electricity.
“We have to take a muscle relaxer before work”
In the countryside, an hour’s drive from Lahore, farmers are hard at work in the fields despite the unbearable heat. It’s 47° outside, but these poor workers have no choice.
Mohammed Imran, wet scarf on his head, returns the earth from his field with a shovel.
We sweat a lot, we have aches everywhere and we are exhausted. Before sleeping, I take paracetamol, but the next morning we still feel tired. It is so hot. We must take a muscle relaxer before starting work. And we have to work more, because we have to water our crops more due to the extreme heat.
40% of its plot impacted, burned by the sun.
In hospitals in Punjab, hundreds of patients sick due to extreme heat arrive every day. A situation which should be repeated during the summer, because in Pakistan, other episodes of heatwaves are expected in the coming weeks.
Listen againPakistan on the front line of global warming