Majority of Sindh heatwave victims were homeless: minister

Published June 29, 2015
Men rest under a bridge during a heatwave in Karachi on June 29, 2015.– AFP
Men rest under a bridge during a heatwave in Karachi on June 29, 2015.– AFP

KARACHI: Nearly two-thirds of the victims of a killer heatwave that swept Sindh last week were homeless people, the provincial health minister said Monday, as the death toll in Karachi reached over 1,200.

The city of 20 million inhabitants is a sprawling metropolis with few green areas and has scant facilities for coping with intensely hot weather.

Those living on the city's streets have little access to shelter or safe drinking water, making them particularly vulnerable to the scorching temperatures.

“About 60 to 65 per cent of the heatstroke victims were beggars and heroin addicts, street people,” Jam Mehtab Dahar, the provincial health minister told AFP.

Zafar Ejaz, a senior health official, said the death toll as of Monday stood at 1,229 across the city's hospitals.

After peaking at around 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) on the weekend of June 20-21, the heat subsided to the mid-30s later in the week as the city's customary cooling sea breeze returned.

Among the remaining 35 to 40 per cent of deaths, elderly women who died in their homes comprised a majority, Dahar said, suggesting power cuts had played a role as people had been unable to use fans or air conditioners.

“The women were at homes and not directly exposed to heat unlike the street people,” Dahar added.

This year's heatwave has also coincided with the start of Ramazan, during which millions of devout Pakistanis abstain from food and drink from sunrise to sunset.

Under the The Ehtram-e-Ramazan Ordinance, 1981, it is illegal for Muslims to eat or drink in public during daylight hours in Ramazan, though the crisis prompted some clerics to advise people they should stop fasting if their health is at risk.

Opinion

Editorial

Tariff reform
Updated 17 May, 2025

Tariff reform

Planned import policy reforms signify a major positive shift in the govt’s economic and growth strategy.
Rising heat
17 May, 2025

Rising heat

AS the mercury continues to rise mercilessly across Pakistan, it becomes painfully clear that climate change has hit...
Missing link
17 May, 2025

Missing link

FINANCE Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb now has much to his credit, which is why his promise that the M6 motorway will ...
Budgeting austerity
Updated 16 May, 2025

Budgeting austerity

The past policy of squeezing salaried classes and fully documented corporations to collect taxes will not work any longer.
A ‘new’ Syria
16 May, 2025

A ‘new’ Syria

THE American embrace of the post-Assad Syrian regime is complete, with President Donald Trump meeting the Arab...
Business of begging
16 May, 2025

Business of begging

IT is a matter of deep embarrassment that Pakistan has become an ‘exporter’ of beggars. Over 5,000 have been...