WITH INDIA'S MAMMOTH, seven-phase election underway from 19 April to 1 June, voters are stepping out in their millions, and party and booth workers are at work around the clock. Reporters across the country have hit the ground to provide essential election coverage, and election officials are spendings long days in the field to administer the vote.
This year’s Indian election overlaps with forecasts for hotter-than-normal temperatures in the summer across much of the country (as well as the wider Southasian region), raising urgent concerns for the safety of all those who have to be outdoors. In all the furore of covering the election, the Indian media now has to grapple with a key new question – how best to cover climate change and the dangers of extreme heat, and to inform the country’s 900 million eligible voters about the causes and risks of rising heat as they brave the elements.
In its seasonal forecast, published on 1 March and updated on 1 April, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) established the likelihood of above-normal maximum and minimum temperatures over most parts of the country in the coming weeks. The agency also noted the likely occurrence of more severe heatwaves in most parts of the country from April to June, with larger swathes of India likely to experience between 10 and 20 heatwave days this year as compared to 2023. The IMD’s extended-range outlook for heatwaves from 12 to 25 April forecast hot and humid weather conditions over parts of Maharashtra, coastal Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, and moderate heatwaves in parts of coastal Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, eastern Jharkhand and Bihar.
Numerous electoral constituencies in many of these states went to polls on 19 April and 26 April, and concerns have been raised in some media outlets as to the preparedness of polling stations to deal with heat-related risks. On 11 April, days before the first phase of polling kicked off, India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, was briefed by the IMD and the National Disaster Management Authority about the heat forecast and the authorities’ preparedness. Indian officials have said that, along with strengthening medical preparations, they have disseminated awareness and guidelines and also issued temperature advisories in regional languages.