Does hot weather trigger arguments and fights?

On a hot day, I visited a hotel in connection with an event, but due to scorching heat, the guests and participants were turning up late. In the waiting room the topic of discussion was heat and temperature. A marketing manager present there said, “Do you know why the crime rate is high in some states?” I asked why? He replied that because of the heat, people become irritated, and they get angry at the slightest of things. That is why, in states like Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, UP, Bihar, Jharkhand and Rajasthan, there are more incidents of quarrels and crime. People get murdered in these states even for a petty sum like 50 or 100 rupees.” That's true, but I never thought about this before. This may be a subject of research. Perhaps that is why, the people of the hill states are often calm and there are not so many quarrels. These days, the state of Sikkim in the northeast has been celebrating the International Festival of Flowers, while north-west and central India is melting like anything. The average temperature is running at 38 degrees in most places, while the capital Delhi is absolutely hot.

In the month of April, the heat broke the record of 122 years. The Meteorological Department predicts that May will also go like this. On top of that, electricity supply has been disrupted and long power cuts are a routine in many states. In such hot weather, the Western Disturbance brings great relief. I think bad news always comes from Pakistan, but it is a good thing to have a ‘disturbance’ coming from Pakistan side which always brings cool wind and raindrops. However, not all of the recent western disturbances brought a chill, with only one in six being successful, providing a respite from the heat and a few showers. We used to think that the extreme heat is due to climate change, but the United Nations Meteorological Agency does not believe so. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has said that it is too early to blame climate change alone for the scorching heat in India and Pakistan. This period of summer is in tune with the changing season and it is natural to have heat waves.

Meanwhile, preparations are on to make Delhi the “City of Lakes”. Under this plan, the Delhi government is going to rejuvenate 250 water bodies and 23 lakes in the area. This is a good initiative which should be welcomed and other governments should also build more reservoirs. Due to the depleting open sources of water, street animals and birds are not able to get water. In such a situation, the governments and citizens should make arrangements for water at different places for the animals and birds. With the increase in temperature, the incidents of fire in electric two-wheelers are increasing. Batteries made for cold areas in China are unable to withstand the heat of our country, and explode, which is a very worrying development. It has been learned that in order to make electric vehicles cheap, negligence is being done in battery making, due to which they blast easily. The government has formed a committee to investigate the issue and the launch of new vehicles has been halted.

(Writer is a senior journalist & columnist)