South Asia Faces More Heat

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South Asia Faces More Heat

Story Filed: Thursday, June 22, 2000 3:22 AM EDT

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- Summer officially began this week, but the relentless heat in South Asia started back in March -- with temperatures up to 122 degrees killing scores of people, wiping out entire herds and leaving thousands of acres parched and lifeless.

After a milder-than-usual winter, temperatures began their steady climb in March, usually a balmy month when warm rains fill reservoirs and lakes. The heat has been unbroken by any sustained rainfall.

People in Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan have prayed for rain and cursed the sun.

``This is the worst heat spell I have seen in my life,'' said Attaullah Khan, a 45-year-old laborer in the eastern Pakistan city of Lahore who hauls bricks throughout the day.

``It's really hard work,'' said Khan, burned and blistered by the sweltering sun. ``I carry loads of bricks to the second floor, but I have no choice.''

Doctors, hospitals and local officials say that hundreds of people have died, mostly in southern Sindh province and southwestern Baluchistan province. In eastern Punjab province, hospitals are overcrowded with people suffering heatstroke.

Residents in search of water have deserted entire villages in Sindh and Baluchistan. Tent cities have sprung up near rapidly diminishing lakes in Baluchistan.

Meteorologists say the monsoon rains expected in Pakistan next month should break the heat wave.

The start of the monsoon rains and a massive government relief effort in India helped ease the effects of the scorching temperatures and severe water shortages.

But in Afghanistan, there are no monsoons. Wells have run dry, farmers are ruined and drought-devastated crops have caused severe food shortages.

The Taliban religious militia that controls much of Afghanistan has used vintage Russian helicopters to ferry water to remote villages and airlift people to the nearest body of water.

At least 50 people in northern Afghanistan have died of malnutrition, mostly the very young and the very old, said Mohammed Medi, spokesman for the anti-Taliban alliance in northern Samangan province.

There is no clean drinking water in many parts of southern Afghanistan. Residents say disease is spreading rapidly.

``Most people, especially the children, are suffering from diarrhea, typhoid and malaria,'' said Agha Jan, a bus driver from the Kandahar region.

The governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan have appealed for help to provide food and water to tens of thousands of people who have been forced to leave their homes in search of water.

The United Nations parachuted 100 tons of biscuits into northern Afghanistan this week, Medi said. The International Red Cross and the United States have sent food and money.

Throughout Pakistan, the relentless heat has dried up reservoirs, causing daily power outages. In most cities entire neighborhoods are without power and many are without water.

In the capital, Islamabad, residents buy water by the truckload. Some even dig their own wells.

Business also has mostly wilted in the excruciating heat.

``People just want to stay indoors,'' said Mohammed Azam, a storeowner in Multan, in Punjab province.

But Mohammed Javaid, an ice seller in Multan, says his daily stock is generally consumed before the day is half over.

``We just can't keep up with the demand,'' he said. ``Every day people yell at me because I have run out of ice, like I am hiding it or something and don't want to sell it to them.

``In this heat it doesn't take much for people to lose their temper.''

Copyright ) 2000 Associated Press Information Services, all rights reserved.

http://library.northernlight.com/EA20000622510000029.html?cb=0&dx=1006&sc=0#doc

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), June 23, 2000


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