India’s scorching nights are straining the power grid and putting health at risk | Today’s news

(Bloomberg) — India’s dangerously hot summer days have long been a warning of climate change. Now the country is increasingly dealing with sweltering nights as global warming and poor urban planning put millions of people at risk.

In eight of the past 10 years, the average minimum temperatures during March to May – an indicator of nighttime heat in the pre-monsoon period – have been higher than the long-term average, according to India Meteorological Department data. Only 2020 and 2023 reversed this trend.

Earlier this month, the IMD warned that India will see above-normal minimum temperatures again this summer. That means the heat will persist, even though cooler weather should instead allow people and energy infrastructure to recover from the day’s strain, putting both at risk.

“Sustained high overnight temperatures are becoming a bigger cause of heat exhaustion than daytime heat,” said Rohit Magotra, director of the Integrated Research and Action for Development, or IRAD, think tank, which advises the Indian government on heat mitigation. “Especially for people without access to adequate water and consistent and affordable cooling.”

Part of the problem is a changing climate – India is one of the most vulnerable countries to the effects of rising temperatures.

But warmer nights are also the result of so-called urban heat islands, where concrete in densely packed neighborhoods absorbs daytime sunlight and slowly releases the trapped heat at night, pushing indoor temperatures above outdoor values. In the poorest areas of Indian cities, residents often work outside during the day – and now try to recover in the evening.

“Climate change is increasing base temperatures, but the way we build our cities is what traps that heat,” said Vishwas Chitale, head of the climate resilience team at the Energy, Environment and Water Council in New Delhi. “More than half of the extreme heat in Indian cities is caused by the rapid concretization and expansion of the road network.”

More heat means increased power consumption and India has seen repeated record highs, not only during the day but also at night, resulting in occasional blackouts. Add in overburdened – and sometimes poorly maintained – distribution grids, and several parts of the country experienced blackouts, from Delhi in the north to Chennai in the south.

Daily demand has been met, thanks in part to the rapid expansion of solar power. But evening supplies are much more stressed, exacerbated this year by the war in Iran, which has cut liquefied natural gas supplies and reduced the use of gas-fired power plants.

India has bought fuel on the spot market to meet peak demand – but production has been consistently lower, resulting in daily supply shortfalls of up to 5 gigawatts this season, enough to power about 3 million low-income households.

Among the worst-hit states is Uttar Pradesh, the country’s most populous province and home to some of its hottest cities.

A survey released by community social media platform LocalCircles on May 21 said 93% of households in the state face daily power outages, some for up to eight hours.

Pictures of people protesting power cuts in various parts of the state circulated on social media, while political leaders across parties, including the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, wrote letters to state power minister AK Sharma describing the hardships caused by erratic power supply.

Banda, a city in the semi-arid region of the state, has repeatedly topped the list of hottest cities in the world, with its maximum daily temperature touching nearly 48°C on several occasions. Nights there were equally harsh with minimum mercury readings consistently hovering near the 35C level – well below the thresholds considered dangerous to human health.

“During the day, it looks like a weather-induced curfew in Banda,” said Naseer Ahmad Siddiqui, a local activist and journalist. “After dark, public places are full of residents seeking relief in their stifling indoor spaces.”

Sarnath Ganguly, Senior Vice President of Noida Power Co. Ltd., which distributes electricity in Noida, a suburb of Delhi, says responsibility falls on both customers and utilities because many exceed their contracted energy load with air conditioners and other appliances.

If customers declare their actual usage and distribution companies take action in time, outages can be minimized, he said.

But for those with limited cooling options, the most common solution to sweltering hot nights is to stay outside as long as possible, a solution that CEEW’s Chitale says still leaves the elderly, pregnant women, young children and outdoor workers particularly vulnerable.

“The heat outside is getting all the political attention,” he said. “But indoor heat is where the infrastructure deficit becomes deadly, especially for those without access to active cooling.”

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