Kano residents groan over excessive heat

Many residents in Kano state have resorted to sleeping in the open especially during the night hours due to excessive heat being experienced in the state. According to the weather forecast reports, the state falls between 39 and 40 degree celsius as of yesterday.

Some of the residents, who spoke to Kano Chronicle on the situation, said the heat being experienced this year was severe to the extent that many people preferred sleeping in the open in order to breathe fresh air.

Mallam Usman Ado, a resident of Tarauni quarters in the Tarauni local government area of the state, told our reporters that for many years, the state had not experienced heat of a greater magnitude.

“I was told that Kano is now at 40-41 degree celsius which is unbearable. Many of us in Tarauni quarters are now sleeping in the open because we can’t bear the heat in our rooms. We are lucky that the temperature usually goes down a little bit from 12 midnight upward. It is a common sight to see people sleeping during the day at a slightest opportunity because they haven’t slept the previous night due to excessive heat,” Ado said.

Another resident, Ibrahim Idris Hotoro, said demand for ice block in Kano state had risen up following the increasing demand for cold drinks by the residents. However, he expressed concern over the safety of the ice blocks being consumed by the residents, saying the rate at which people have been jostling for ice block without caution was alarming.

“Unfortunately there is no specific body assigned to monitor the hygienic aspect of the ice blocks being sold to people. It is apparent that most of the consumers use it directly in the water they drink not minding the hygienic level of the source of water being used in producing the ice,” he lamented.

An environmentalist, Malam Abubakar Adam, a staff of federal ministry of environment, emphasized the need for an effective public enlightenment campaign to sensitize residents on what they should do in period like this, noting that people should be educated on the preventive measures they should adopt to protect themselves from heat related diseases.

“The heat period is indeed a very crucial moment that requires a lot of professional interventions by experts. Communities need to know what they ought to do and what should be done by the authorities concern to save lives,” Adam said.

When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO), Mohammed Kandi, said electricity supply to the state had dropped drastically, saying as of yesterday, the allocation was only 277 megawatts and even at that, it was fluctuating.

Kandi said: “Kano requires 800 megawatts daily, but we are only receiving 277 megawatts for onward distributing to Kano, Katsina and Jigawa states which is grossly inadequate. The company is searching for other sources of energy to meet the demand of its customers in the three states.”

He explained that the company was up and doing to satisfy its customers through adequate supply of electricity, adding that, KEDCO had republished about 30 damaged transformers that were recalled from various communities for repairs.

The KEDCO’s image maker, who appealed to the affected communities to bear with company, assured that the transformers would soon be re-installed and reconnected with national grid.

Commenting on the measures taken by the state government to curtail and prevent the spread of the heat related diseases in the state, the State’s Commissioner for Health, Dr. Kabir Ibrahim Getso said government had approved N19m to mount aggressive response against such diseases.

Dr. Getso added that government had also strengthened and intensified surveillance at all levels of healthcare delivery and reactivated its rapid response team for immediate respond to any reported case of meningitis.

He noted that drugs and other consumables were procured in large quantity and prepositioned in the major health facilities across the state, adding that the laboratory capacity of the state epidemiology had been strengthened to be able to diagnose meningitis as soon as possible.

The commissioner urged residents to be on alert, saying government alone could not control any disease outbreak in the state without the support of the residents, urging that

“residents must comply with  experts’ advice, especially on preventive measures.

“People should ensure they sleep in a well ventilated room and avoid overcrowding especially at night. Anybody found with the symptoms for meningitis, which include sudden onset of intense headache, fever, nausea, vomiting and neck stiffness should be promptly referred to the nearest health facility.”