Karachi is in the grip of its most severe heatwave since 2018, with the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) recording a maximum temperature of 44.1C – the city’s highest reading since 31 May 2018, when the mercury touched 46C. Meteorologists have warned that hotter days may still lie ahead.
The prolonged heatwave has brought misery to millions across Pakistan and India throughout April and May. In the southern Pakistani province of Sindh, daytime temperatures have frequently crossed 44C to 46C, forcing residents indoors during peak afternoon hours and severely affecting outdoor labourers, transport workers and farming communities. India has also experienced intense heatwave conditions in recent weeks, particularly across Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and parts of northern and central India, where several cities have seen temperatures exceed 45C. Authorities in multiple Indian states have issued heatwave alerts as extreme temperatures increase health risks, strain electricity supplies and disrupt daily life.
Karachi’s coastal communities bear the brunt
Karachi, ordinarily moderated by sea breezes from the Arabian Sea, has struggled to escape the extreme conditions. During the first half of May, temperatures in the city crossed 40C on multiple occasions. The impact has been particularly severe in Karachi’s coastal settlements, where prolonged electricity outages and water shortages have compounded the effects of extreme heat. In Ibrahim Hyderi, one of the city’s largest fishing communities, residents say survival is becoming increasingly difficult.
Abdul Sattar, a fisherman with more than three decades of experience, recalled how one of his colleagues collapsed from heat exhaustion during the recent heatwave. “We gave him lemon water and rushed him to a doctor,” he said. “He regained consciousness after receiving intravenous fluids.” The community still carries painful memories of Karachi’s catastrophic 2015 heatwave, when thousands died across the city, including several fishers from Ibrahim Hyderi. More recently, heat-related deaths reported during the summer of 2024 again highlighted Karachi’s vulnerability to extreme weather events.
The strain on local healthcare facilities is stark. Dr Suresh Kumar, who heads the children’s ward at Ibrahim Hyderi government hospital, said the number of children visiting the outpatient department has risen sharply since the last week of April. “On normal days, we would see around 50 to 60 children,” he said. “Now the number has crossed 200 daily.” According to Dr Kumar, most children are being treated for diarrhoea, stomach infections and dehydration – illnesses commonly linked to extreme heat and unsafe water conditions. Civil Hospital Karachi reported 267 heat stroke admissions between 23 and 26 June 2024, with twelve deaths.
Children and older people are identified as being on the front line of the climate crisis. Children’s bodies are less able to regulate temperature, making them more vulnerable to heat-related illnesses, while older adults, particularly those with pre-existing conditions, are also highly at risk. Amnesty International has reported that Pakistan collects virtually no mortality data on the impacts of extreme weather, leading to uncounted or “invisible deaths” of older people and children. Some studies suggest that actual death tolls from the 2024 heatwave were far higher than officially reported.
Healthcare infrastructure in Karachi remains woefully underfunded and overstretched, failing to deliver adequate care during climate emergencies. Government healthcare centres lack basic facilities such as beds and fans, and water is often unavailable or contaminated. The heatwave has also disrupted education: in April and May 2024, more than 210 million children missed school days due to extreme heat. In Pakistan’s Punjab province alone, 26 million children missed classes in May.
Prolonged electricity outages have worsened the crisis. In June 2024, Karachi experienced protests due to power cuts lasting up to 16 hours. K-Electric, the city’s power supplier, implemented rationing because of a significant gap between demand and capacity, leading to 12- to 14-hour outages. Water shortages have deepened the crisis, with ruptured pipelines and power failures at pumping stations crippling the supply network. Karachi faces a daily deficit of approximately 40 million gallons of water.
The heatwave has also affected agriculture, with drought conditions threatening food security. Outdoor workers face reduced earning potential due to the inability to work during peak heat hours. Economic necessity forces many to continue labouring despite dangerous conditions.
Climate change and urbanisation fuel the crisis
Climate experts warn that rising temperatures are no longer isolated incidents but part of a worsening long-term trend driven by climate change and rapid urbanisation. The World Weather Attribution group has analysed the current extreme heat in Pakistan and India and found that “human-caused climate change approximately tripled the probability of an event like this happening, making it no longer exceptional in today’s climate. The same heat event would have been about 1C cooler in a pre-industrial climate.” Heatwaves reaching the high 40s Celsius are now considered a regular feature of the pre-monsoon season in India and Pakistan.
According to the PMD, average temperatures across the region have risen by approximately 1.4C, while Sindh alone has experienced an increase of around 1.7C in recent decades. Karachi’s mean temperature has increased by 2.25C over the past 59 years – a tenfold rise compared to the global average. Studies indicate that the greatest acceleration of heat is happening earlier in the season, in April, rather than May, which is particularly dangerous as populations have not yet acclimatised.
Yasir Darya, founder of the Climate Action Center, said Karachi’s humidity often makes temperatures below 40C feel significantly hotter. He noted that unusually warm nights – once rare in the city – are now becoming more frequent, affecting sleep, health and overall living conditions. “The intensity of heat has sharply increased since 2024,” Darya said, warning that Karachi lacks sufficient cooling centres and public heat-relief infrastructure. He added that the city’s shrinking tree cover is worsening the urban heat effect and increasing exposure for vulnerable populations. Rapid urbanisation has led to the development of heat islands in major cities like Karachi and Lahore, where concrete and asphalt absorb and retain heat. Karachi’s dense informal settlements, covering a large percentage of the population on a small land area, exacerbate this effect.
The PMD has also indicated that El Niño conditions were likely to emerge during May-July, with the last El Niño contributing to making 2023 the second-hottest year on record and 2024 the hottest ever. The “feels like” temperature in Karachi during the recent heatwave reached 55C due to high humidity, a situation described as the hottest since the 2015 heatwave.
Climate specialists are urging immediate intervention, including the establishment of public cooling centres, expanded access to drinking water, emergency medical preparedness, and large-scale urban tree plantation drives. The National Disaster Management Authority has issued guidelines to manage the impact of heatwaves, while organisations such as Save the Children have initiated heatwave emergency response efforts, including awareness campaigns and humanitarian assistance. Yet for the residents of Sindh, the crisis is no longer a warning about the future – it is already reshaping everyday life, turning extreme heat from a seasonal hardship into a persistent struggle for survival.
