India's deadly heat waves preview disruptions of a hotter future

High temperatures force laborers to work nights, parch fields, strain power grid

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Sandeep is one of many Indian laborers who have been forced to change their work schedules to night shifts as a result of intense heat waves in the country. (Photo by Minaam Shah)

MINAAM SHAH, Contributing writer

NEW DELHI -- Sandeep's workday began in the dark. At 3:30 a.m. one recent night, he arrived at a construction site on the outskirts of New Delhi, where floodlights illuminated the concrete skeleton of a high-rise building.

Shoulder to shoulder with dozens of other laborers, Sandeep set about mixing mortar for new floors. By 11 a.m., it was unbearably hot. "Once the sun starts getting overhead, it feels like we are working in a furnace," he said while wiping sweat from his forehead. "We don't work after this, till late evening."

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