A slight drop in mercury has brought a wave of relief to the sunshine state which was reeling under the wrath of the summer heat since late February and early March. The humidity too was particularly stifling recently, amplifying discomfort and even causing heat strokes in some people.
Hospitals across the state also said they saw a marked rise in ailments triggered by the heat wave. These included nausea, palpitations, fatigue, muscular cramps, and even fainting due to increased sweating. Doctors' doled out the same, sound advice: Hydrate with water, wear cotton and linen clothes, eat fresh fruits and vegetables, and avoid venturing outside without a head cover or an umbrella.
The crux of the situation, however, is being missed...that of climate change and the direct impact it has on health. Until five or six years ago, warnings of rapid climate change were largely dismissed as propaganda, with many powerful governments around the world claiming that its effects would not be as devastating as made out to be by already alarmed experts. Meanwhile, here in Goa, the bulk of the population was in the throes of the 'not in my backyard' syndrome, which meant that citizens and the government alike breathed easy because they assumed that climate change was affecting the rest of the world and country, and not them specifically.
As a result, life continued as usual. Hills were scalped of their forest cover, water bodies were either filled up with rubble or polluted, and the air was laden with dangerous emissions and mineral dust. Gradually, summers began getting hotter, monsoons became heavier and featured a spate of unseasonal rain, and cyclones brewed in the ocean more regularly than usual.
Apart from damaging property and disrupting the schedules of agriculture and even tourism, weather vagaries eventually brought with them a slew of health conditions. Suddenly, the common cold became all too common and even worsened into flus and other serious respiratory tract infections, several cases of electrolyte imbalance surfaced and even urinary tract infections became more frequent.
If this trend continues, it will put undue pressure on the state's healthcare network. Haunting memories of the struggles and despairs Goa endured during the Covid-19 pandemic are all too fresh in the minds of the people, which is why no one would normally want to put themselves in such a precarious situation ever again.
How do we ensure this? First, it is imperative that we take care of nature if we would like nature to take care of us. The fact that February 2025 witnessed sweltering temperatures and Goa and Maharashtra became the first states to report a heatwave in 2025, is nothing short of alarming.
Doctors have already been sounding alarm bells regarding the effects Goa's climate can have on health. Because it is already a relatively more humid state, excessive sweating is expected. But when the humidity is way above normal, electrolyte and fluid imbalances in the body can be more serious than generally perceived. Medical practitioners say that something as common as diarrhoea can pose a great risk of acute kidney injury if dehydration in the patient is not treated immediately. Then there is also the fear of life-threatening diseases like cholera, typhoid and hepatitis breaking out due to accelerated food and water contamination during extremely hot weather periods.
It is obvious that apart from staying indoors and keeping ourselves hydrated to stay away from diseases, it would be in the best interests of ourselves and the state itself if each one of us, starting with the government, took proactive steps to nurse nature back to health first. Planting more trees can no longer be considered rhetoric. It is now a necessity.
Also, the government should seriously consider tweaking its legislations, particularly where conserving green cover and regulating construction activities are concerned. Now is not the time to allow the mushrooming of mega projects and hacking of trees willy-nilly in exchange for briefcases of currency and other such temporary gains when life itself, as we know it, hangs in the balance.
The government and its ministers should snap out of their myopia and see the larger picture if they are truly keen on being at the forefront of ensuring the health and longevity of all. The heat is already on.