As India's election kicks off, is extreme heat a threat to voters?
Campaign rallies under a blazing sun, long treks to rural polling stations - as Indians prepare to vote, forecasts for extreme heat could add to the challenges of holding the world's biggest election. With voting starting on Friday, parties and authorities are being urged to do more to keep voters, candidates and polling station staff safe following heat warnings by the nation's meteorological service for the six-week election period.
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"Most parts of south peninsula, central India, east India and plains of northwest India will experience above normal heatwave days with temperatures hitting or crossing 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit)," Mohapatra told Context.
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Eleven people died and several more were hospitalised with heatstroke after they attended a political event held under the afternoon sun in Maharashtra last April.
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"A billion people will come out to vote ... It's going to be very challenging for us," Kiren Rijiju, India's earth science minister, said this month. "All the states have made elaborate preparations."
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