Parts of India ban daytime cooking as hundreds die of heat

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Parts of India ban daytime cooking as hundreds die of heat

Nirmala George and Indrajit Singh, Associated Press

Updated 9:38 pm, Friday, April 29, 2016

PATNA, India (AP) — With sizzling temperatures claiming more than 300 lives this month in India, officials said they were banning daytime cooking in some parts of the drought-stricken country in a bid to prevent accidental fires that have killed nearly 80 more people.

The eastern state of Bihar this week took the unprecedented step of forbidding any cooking between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., after accidental fires exacerbated by dry, hot and windy weather swept through shantytowns and thatched-roof houses in villages and killed 79 people. They included 10 children and five adults killed in a fire sparked during a Hindu prayer ceremony in Bihar's Aurangabad district last week. People were instead told to cook to night.

Hoping to prevent more fires, officials have also barred burning spent crops or holding religious fire rituals. Anyone defying the ban risks up to a year in jail.

"We call this the fire season in Bihar," Vyas, a state disaster management official who goes by one name, said Friday. "Strong, westerly winds stoke fires which spread easily and cause great damage."

Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/science/article/India-s-sizzling-heat-wave-claims-more-than-300-7383078.php

[Uncle Joe]

1. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Judi Lynn.

[Ghost Dog]

2. Yeah...

[Baobab]

25. Climate change - This could be us soon.

Big parts of the earth may become too hot to live in.

For example, the Southwest US deserts may get so very hot in the summer that survival without air conditioning and lots more water could become impossible. Sweat and shade and fans alone might not be enough to prevent heatstroke.

[Samantha]

3. Is there nothing we can do to help them

Couldn't we at least furnish some water?

Sam

[IDemo]

4. Solar cookers would get rid of the fire hazard

This is one I made from cardboard and foil years ago and it worked great:

[IcyPeas]

21. Top Chef used these solar ovens and grills

I'd never seen them before -- it opened my eyes to something I never knew existed (although I now know that people who camp know about these). The "cheftestants" on the show had never used them before either. They are incredible!! They talked about the earthquake in Haiti and some chefs brought some of these down there to help cook for throngs of people who were made homeless by the earthquake. There was no power/electricity..... these were perfect!!!

Here's a little clip of that moment, if you want to see....

http://www.bravotv.com/the-daily-dish/jose-andres-top-chef-solar-power-clean-cookstoves

[AuntPatsy]

5. Omg that's terrible,

[Paka]

6. I just returned from India.

It was indeed hot. Hovering around 50 degrees Celsius in Kolkatta. Modified some as you went north.

[PADemD]

7. That's 122 F. !!!

[840high]

8. wow - i was complaining we were

at 88 today.

[glinda]

10. That is why I tell people do not complain when it is cold.

[840high]

12. I love cold weather.

[glinda]

13. Me too. They need to figure out how to blanket the planet in cold.

[kentauros]

14. Won't stop me.

I'm absolutely miserable when it's below 60F. I love it when it hits 30C

[Judi Lynn]

11. Monstrous! Thanks for the info. n/t

[meow2u3]

22. Yikes!

122 degrees? No wonder those parts of India banned daytime cooking. It's hot to use your car for a frying pan.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

9. I was in Kolkata last June and couldn't leave my room

Till the rains came

[NWProf]

15. Here in the Great NW we broke heat records in April

We are in the midst of a horrific temperature climb that is a direct result of Global Warming/ Climate Change and it will not get better anytime soon. When the massive migrations start because there is no water or it is too hot to plant crops, or people watch helplessly as their children die from the heat, will our lame stream media even report it?

[ffr]

16. Weather.com only shows Kolkatta at 101° today

38C

I'm sure with humidity that's a problem, but it's a far cry from 122° and humidity.

Got a link?

[Judi Lynn]

17. The link is at the bottom of the posted article. n/t

[ffr]

18. Ah-huh. I know. It says 44C. Was looking for the 50C referenced above.

[Judi Lynn]

19. That doesn't appear in my article. n/t

[Judi Lynn]

20. Some local papers claim the ban concerns the fires, with wind, have burned down thatched houses,

and killed people and animals.

Saturday, April 16, 2016 3:41:42 PM (IST)

Summer fires force Bihar village diktat on no cooking stoves

Patna, Apr 16 (IANS): The fear of devastating fires during the scorching summer in Bihar has led people in some villages to ban the use of stoves durimg daytime to cook food. Violators would be slapped with shoes and would have to pay a fine, officials on Saturday said.

Fire incidents are common during the hot summer months in rural Bihar, where people are vulnerable as most still live in thatched homes.

Officials said that fire incidents have been on the rise due to a heat wave with temperatures as high as 42 degrees Celsius over the last 10 days.

Fear of sweeping fires is such that people in over a dozen villages in Bagaha in West Champaran district, sounded the drum (dugdugi) to warn villagers not to light firewood or kerosene stoves to cook food after 9 a.m. to minimise the chance of fire incidents, a district official said.

http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=390525

[GreydeeThos]

23. Climate disruption is now becoming lifestyle disruption

Sad news for people when the message is:

because of climate change, you can't eat.

[dembotoz]

24. yeah but as long as a clown senator can bring a snowball to the floor it does not really exist