June 23 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Pakistani authorities have given the alert order for this weekend, when the heat wave that has been plaguing the country for weeks will reach a new peak by leaving temperatures of up to 50ºC, particularly in the south and southwest.
For now, the city of Naukundi, in the province of Balochistan, on the border with Afghanistan, has already left this temperature at mid-afternoon this Friday.
“I am burning in an oven,” laments the shoemaker Noor Ahmad in statements to DPA from this city. “The streets and the bazaars are deserted. I don’t know how the children will cope if this heat wave continues,” he adds.
In the statement collected by the Aaj chain, the Pakistan Meteorology Department warns that the high temperatures will continue during Saturday and a good part of Sunday, while it warns of the arrival of a storm system, also on the border with Afghanistan, to throughout the coming week.
“”Temperatures in Gilgit Baltistan and Khiber Pakhtunjua are expected to move between 4 and 6º above normal, followed by a rain system during the following week,” according to the note.
Earlier this month, Amnesty International called for “global” and “urgent” action to combat the devastating effects of heat waves in Pakistan, a country it considers to be at the epicenter of the climate crisis and where the most vulnerable population is completely unprotected.
“Pakistan is on the front lines of the climate crisis. Climate injustice is evident. Despite its small contribution to climate change, the population faces disproportionately serious consequences that often endanger their lives,” lamented the regional director of Amnesty for South Asia, Dinushika Dissanayake.
Amnesty also calls on the Government of Pakistan to draw up “comprehensive action plans against heat” that “are consistent with Human Rights legislation and standards” and dedicate special importance to the most vulnerable.
