Lethal heat, precious water

The heated and often vitriolic campaign run by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi may have dissipated as a result of the shock General Election results. (His Hindu nationalist BJP party failed to secure an outright majority).

A much more pressing problem, however, remains. It is having a far greater impact on our patients and eye hospital teams in Bihar than any election result. It did not even get a mention from any campaigning politician.
It is the unrelenting heatwave and resulting health crisis.

The tragedy is that I wrote on exactly this topic last summer. But a year’s total inaction from world leaders to combat global warming has meant that 2024 saw the highest temperatures ever recorded on our precious planet. And places like the state of Bihar – one of the hottest and most humid in India and home to millions of her poorest citizens  – are worst hit.

According to Patna-based journalist Mhd Imran Khan, a brief press release dated 31 May 2024 from the Disaster Management Department (DMD)  of the Indian state of Bihar said 14 people died of extreme heat the previous day, including 10 officers on duty during the Indian elections. However, this is likely to be a gross underestimate reports Khan citing the fact that Hindi newspapers counted around 100 deaths across the state, with over 55 deaths on 30 May, more than 40 deaths on 31 May and six deaths on 1 June.

These stats took on a more personal feel last week when Dr Dhiraj Ranjan, who runs the MHKS eye hospital in Motihari, reported that two post-operative cataract patients had died from heatstroke. This was discovered when the hospital team went into their village to carry out their 15-day post-operative ocular examination. This is usually a very happy moment; a previously blind patient can see well, has no post-operative complications, receives a final discharge from hospital care and can resume being an active member of their family and community. Instead MHKS staff found two families in mourning.

To make matters worse, the hospital itself ran out of water. A hospital that we love for its beautiful location, perched on the edge of Motihari jheel (lake) where fisherfolk let down their nets from small wooden boats, migratory birds swoop over the glassy water in the winter, and the local rowing club occasionally holds races. The once beautiful lake is bone dry. The vegetables are wilting in the hospital garden which supplies food for patients and staff. At least the solar panels, installed last year by gallant workers climbing up onto the roof in 40+ degrees, are providing clean energy. Mindful of the hefty carbon footprint produced by healthcare – up to 4% of all carbon emissions globally – our hospitals could not be trying harder to be frugal and efficient in their methods of working, from planning their village outreach programmes to the type of cataract surgery performed.

So what to do about the water crisis in Motihari?

Well, we did as we did before with Bamdah Mission Hospital. We appealed for emergency funds from individual Indian donors to enable a borehole to be sunk. And once again, a handful of committed people sent the money immediately.
Standing in line in 47degrees to cast your vote for a politician may be exerting your democratic right.
But every time you spend money you are casting a vote for the kind of world you want.
So a big Thank You to Horace, Suzanne, Amit, Shalini, Surajit and family and Mahesh.

Perhaps this tale is worth remembering as we in the UK approach our own exercise in democracy in July. Whilst Climate Change was not even mentioned by any Indian politician, our own leaders seem to be using it as a mere debating point.

Lucy Mathen

#globalwarming  #water #climatechange  #NGOcarbonfootprint #actionnotwords

#heatwaveinBihar #water