India's heat hitting rural areas hardest, says Winnipegger in Mumbai
Bector says everyone is praying for the rain to come early since it doesn't normally start until mid-June
India's record-breaking heat wave is impacting rural parts of the country much more that urban areas like Mumbai, a Winnipegger that has been living in India for 15 years.
Sunil Bector lives primarily in Mumbai and said the temperatures exceeding 40 C are manageable in the city because they have access to fans and air conditioning. People in rural India aren't as fortunate.
Bector visited a friend's farm house a few hours outside of Mumbai and while he was there, they experienced power outages from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. "because it's just too hot," he said.
"In the rural areas, everyone's in slow motion, for sure, everyone's in slow motion, nothing really gets done."
While temperatures are exceeding normal temperatures, Bector said that May is always the hottest month.
"The thing that happens here is it gets so hot, so hot and humid until the whole thing breaks and then it rains for three months straight and after the monsoon season, you don't see a cloud for eight months," he told CBC's Information Radio.
So right now, Bector said everyone is just praying for the rain to come early since it doesn't normally start until the second week of June.
"Everybody's complaining of course. Just like how when I grew up in the 'Peg, everyone would be complaining in the winter."