14:26:00
Pakistan Karachi Opens Heat Stroke Centers To Provide Relief
Karachi has prepared for the peak of summer heat by
opening 179 heatstroke centres after the city sizzled with temperatures as high
as 45 degrees Celsius last summer that led to more than 1200 heat-related
deaths.
Officials have also trained scores of new ambulance
drivers and are working with utility companies to try to keep electricity and
water flowing as the city’s 24 million people battle summer heat during the
month-long Islamic fast of Ramzan when drinking water and eating is forbidden
during daylight hours.
Imams have said those whose life is at risk from the
fast need not keep to it in extreme conditions.
“If a doctor says that your life is threatened due to
the scorching heat, or you have a medical condition and it is going to get
worse due to the fasting, then you can skip the daily fast,” Muhammad Tahir
Ashrafi, chairman of the Pakistan Ulema Council, an organisation of scholars
and religious clerics, told a foreign media agency in an interview.
If any area of Pakistan is hit by extreme heat during
Ramzan, which began June 7, the council will remind followers of that
flexibility in public service media announcements, he said.
As climate change brings ever hotter summer temperatures
to some of the world’s already sizzling spots, finding ways to reduce the risks
is crucial, medical and climate change experts say.
In Pakistan’s southern Sindh province, temperatures
have already hit 52 degrees (125 degrees Fahrenheit) in Larkana, with Jacobabad
and Moenjodaro just slightly cooler, according to the Pakistan Meteorological
Department.
In the port city of Karachi, where temperatures so far
remain below 40 degrees Celsius, heat relief centres are open, providing
drinking water to passersby.
Last summer, more than 1,270 people died in Karachi,
and nearly 36,000 were hospitalised or hit by water and electricity shortages
during 13 consecutive days of scorching temperatures in June and July.
Officials of the Pakistan Meteorological Department,
the Provincial Disaster Management Authority-Sindh and the health department
say they are better prepared to deal with extreme heat this year, but experts
warn deaths are still a risk unless new measures work.
Ghulam Rasul, Director General Pakistan Meteorological
Department, said a new early warning centre set up in Karachi in April aims to
release warnings to government bodies, media and other organisations three days
in advance of expected heat waves this year.
“We have already identified the most vulnerable areas
in Karachi, with the help of the district administration, to convey the
warnings instantly and keep the people safe from sizzling temperatures,” he
said.
The Met Office is also in touch with K-Electric, the
main provider of electricity to around 20 million people in Karachi, and with
the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board to try to head off unscheduled water and
power blackouts during heat waves.
Such blackouts have already prompted near daily
protests, including in slum areas, where the shortages are worst.
In March and April, over 400 volunteers and ambulance
drivers were trained to give first aid to heatstroke victims and get them to
hospitals, said Ajay Kumar Sewani, Assistant Director for Administration at the
Provincial Disaster Management Authority-Sindh.
He said that heat wave emergency first aid centres have
been set up in almost all major cities of the province including Karachi,
Hyderabad, Larkana, Mirpur and Sukkur. The centres offer oral rehydration
solution, some medicines and ambulance services to nearby hospitals.
The provincial disaster management authority has
distributed a half million brochures and 6,000 banners in cities across Sindh
in an effort to raise awareness about heat risks, he said.
The materials advise people to drink as much water as
possible, avoid drinking dehydrating tea and coffee, try to stay inside or
under a shade from 10 am to 4 pm and cover their heads with a cap during the
daytime.
It also offers advice on recognising the symptoms of
heatstroke and heat exhaustion and has telephone numbers for relief centres.
“Our aim is to ensure and guarantee zero deaths during
the heat wave and we are prepared for it,” Sewani said.
Local media reported two heat wave-related deaths in
Karachi during the last week of April, but they have yet to be officially
confirmed.
Early users of Karachi’s heat relief centres said they
are already hugely helpful to students, commuters and pedestrians who stop by
to drink water, rinse their faces and just cool off when temperatures soar.
“The district administration has made much better
arrangements this time and we hope no one dies this Ramzan, unlike the last
year,”
said Sumera Ambreen, 21, a medical student who stopped at a centre in
North Nazimabad recently.
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