If you think Singapore is getting way too hot to bear, scenes of pedestrians getting stuck on a melting road in India will probably change your mind.
While Singapore experienced its highest recorded temperature of 36.7 degrees Celcius in April this year, it is still a far cry from the 51 degrees Celsius recorded in Phalodi, India just last week.
Before this, India’s previous national high was 50.6 degrees in 1956.
The weather has gotten so hot that there has been a spike in cases of dehydration and heat stroke. And for the people in some states, the heatwave is so bad that roads have started to melt, trapping pedestrians who are trying to walk in the sweltering heat.
Reuters, AFP
A video uploaded by India’s NDTV on YouTube shows pedestrians struggling to cross busy streets as their footwear became stuck to the road. One man whose slipper got stuck to the road had to hop back on to the busy road just to retrieve his slipper because the ground was too hot to walk barefoot on.
In the video, various other people can also be seen getting stuck while crossing roads, and one particular road was littered with different types of footwear left behind by pedestrians.
According to a report by Reuters, May and June are India’s hottest months, but thunderstorms usually help to alleviate some of the heat. However, the showers are just not coming, leading to higher-than-ever temperatures.
B.P. Yadav, head of the national weather forecasting centre of the India Meteorological Department told the news agency that the higher temperatures could be caused by global warming.
“We are praying to the gods for an early monsoon so that people get some relief, as the heat has taken a toll on our bodies,” a resident from the northern industrial city of Kanpurwas quoted as saying.
ljessica@sph.com.sg
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