Doordarshan Anchor Faints While Presenting Live Heatwave Updates

Doordarshan anchor Lopamudra Sinha blacked out while she was reading live weather updates about the mounting heatwaves across the country. Parts of India are currently experiencing intense heat as the temperature ranges from 40 degrees celsius to 46 degrees Celsius in many regions.

The anchor in Doordarshan‘s Kolkata branch was heard slurring while reading out the updates before she fainted. In a video posted on her Facebook page, the anchor said, “The teleprompter faded away and I blacked out… I collapsed on my chair.”

There was extreme heat inside the studio as the cooling system made an unexpected error, and the fainting was due to the intense heat and because the blood pressure plummeted suddenly, the anchor said.

According to a report, she was unwell before the morning broadcast on Thursday. She said that she never keeps a water bottle with her. “Be it a fifteen-minute or half an hour broadcast, I have never felt the need to sip water during broadcasts in my 21 years of career. But, I felt parched even as 15 minutes were left for the broadcast to end. When the TV was showing visuals and not my face, I pointed to the floor manager and asked for a bottle of water,” Sinha said.

She further explained that she did not get a chance to drink water. However, she says she managed to drink some water in a short moment out of her job. She then completed reading two more stories. Two more stories were still pending, and it was while reading the heatwave story that she fainted, causing her speech slurred. “I tried to complete my presentation. The teleprompter faded away and I blacked out. Luckily, it happened while a 30 to 40-second animation was playing out on television. During that time, I collapsed on my chair,” she said. Some men then rushed to her aid and slashed water on her face.

She said she never dreamt of such an incident happening to her and urged the viewers to care for their heath as the heat waves continue.

Odisha, Jharkhand, and Gangetic West Bengal have been suffering the intense ongoing heatwave the most. The maximum temperatures recorded at some places were seven to eight degrees above normal. Midnapore and Bankura in West Bengal recorded 44.5 degrees Celsius and 44.6 degrees Celsius, respectively.

Amid the intense heat, it is advised to drink adequate water even though sitting indoors.