That day Mahalaxmi and a group of women were digging a water reservoir by the river in rice fields with no trees to provide shade even as the temperature soared above 40C. By contrast, Europe – which has half the population of India’s 1.5 billion people – records an average of 175,000 heat deaths every year, according to the UN. Experts say it can be difficult to declare a “heat death” from just looking at a body, and official heat death cases are notably hard to find in India. Photograph: Hannah Ellis Petersen/The GuardianIn India’s capital, Delhi, a recent report warned the city was suffering from an “escalating urban heat crisis”, with 76% of areas persistently heat stressed. Dr Amlendu Yadav, the head of the heatstroke unit at the hospital, said he was certain heat deaths were being undercounted.