Nemi Chand, a 30-year-old laborer, splashes water on his face at a farm in Rajasthan state, India, on May 23.
Photographer: Anindito Mukhergee/BloombergWhat It’s Like to Work Outdoors in India’s Brutal Heat
As temperatures approach a threshold of what’s considered livable for humans, hundreds of millions of outdoor workers are at risk.
It’s 7 a.m. as Nemi Chand loads concrete fencing poles onto the back of a rusty tractor in India’s northwestern state of Rajasthan. The temperature is already 31C (87.8F).
The season’s final wheat harvest wrapped up a few days ago, and the scorched fields are now almost barren. During India’s brutal summers, which run from roughly March to June, farming anything in the arid state is difficult. So the 30-year-old laborer is filling the dead months running errands and carrying out maintenance work at the farm where he’s worked since he was 15.