Sweet escape: Children playing at a park during an electricity blackout in Yangon. — AFP
AS the sun sets on another scorching Yangon day, the hot and bothered descend on the city’s parks, the coolest place to spend an evening during yet another power blackout.
A wave of exceptionally hot weather has blasted South-East Asia this week, sending the mercury to 45˚C and prompting thousands of schools to suspend in-person classes.
Even before the chaos and conflict unleashed by the military’s 2021 coup, Myanmar’s creaky and outdated electricity grid struggled to keep fans whirling and air conditioners humming during the hot season.
Now, infrastructure attacks and dwindling offshore gas reserves mean those who cannot afford expensive diesel generators must face at least eight hours daily at the mercy of the scorching heat.
For many in the city of some eight million, relief comes only at night and outdoors with the metropolis’ parks offering natural shade and blissful breezes.
“My parents can’t stay inside their house in the afternoon,” said one Yangon resident, as she visited Inya lake late Friday.
“They have to go outside and sit under the shade of trees.”
The woman said her parents warn her about going outside in the weather, urging her to cover up, and added: “I feel this year is far hotter than last year.”
Mya Aye, 62, said she comes to the park every day when the power goes off at 5pm.
“The weather at home is so hot that neither the children nor the elderly can stay,” she said.
Across swathes of Myanmar’s arid heartland day temperatures on Thursday were 3-4˚C higher than the April average, according to the country’s weather monitor.
In Chauk in Magway region, the temperature reached a blazing 45.9˚C on Wednesday, the office said.
Back at the picturesque lake, one man said he and his family had travelled from the northern part of the city as they could not remain at home because of the heat.
“Even if we sit outside, the sun’s rays are very hot and we can’t sit anywhere,” he said.
“After 10 in the morning, it’s getting hotter and we can’t stand it,” he said, adding that older people were particularly impacted.
“Elderly people are not going outside because of the heat and they just stay inside. After the sun is gone, they come out,” he said.
The frequent power outages only made the situation worse, he said, with homes emptying each evening.
“When there is a power blackout everyone sits out on the street until 9pm or 10pm,” he said. — AFP
