Tackle Heatwaves with Short and Long-term Measures

Syllabus: GS1/ Physical Geography, GS3/ Disaster Management

In Context

• Majority of the Indian cities are experiencing the first of severe heatwaves for the year 2025. 

About

• According to the World Meteorological Organization, 2024 was the hottest year on record, with global temperatures 1.55°C above pre-industrial levels. 
• In India, this warming trend has led to more frequent and severe heatwaves, with devastating implications on human health, productivity, ecosystems, and national development.
• The early and severe heatwaves experienced in India, highlighting the urgent need for short-term and long-term strategies to tackle heat stress and its cascading impacts.

What are Heatwaves?

• Definition: A heatwave is defined as a prolonged period of abnormally high temperatures, usually accompanied by high humidity and low wind movement. In the Indian context, heatwaves are declared when temperatures exceed:
  • 40°C in the plains,
  • 37°C in coastal areas, and
  • 30°C in hilly regions.
• Causes: 
  • Urban Heat Island Effect: Researchers noted even in the 19th century, urban areas experience higher temperatures than rural areas due to concrete structures, lack of vegetation, and human activities. This exacerbates heat stress in cities.
  • Climate Change as a Driver: The rising temperatures and altered weather patterns to climate change, emphasizing its role in intensifying and prolonging heatwave events. Factors like El Niño can also contribute to higher temperatures.

Socio-Economic Dimensions and the Equity Challenge

• Impact on Livelihoods: With over 75% of India’s workforce engaged in heat-exposed labor such as farming and construction, heat stress directly undermines productivity.
  • Studies suggest India lost 6% of work hours in 2023 due to heat stress, translating into a 3%–5% GDP loss.
• Agriculture and Food Security: Rising temperatures reduce crop yield and cause livestock mortality, severely affecting farmers’ income.
  • Increased power demand leads to frequent electricity outages, further disrupting irrigation and food processing.
• Disproportionate Impact on Vulnerable Groups: Women, elderly, migrants, slum dwellers, and subsistence workers are the worst affected.
  • Cultural and social norms — such as women working in poorly ventilated kitchens — heighten their vulnerability.
  • Urban poor often live in heat-prone microclimates, like high-rise shadows and dense concrete clusters.

Key Challenges in Addressing Heatwaves

• Inadequate Implementation: Existing Heat Action Plan (HAP)s often lack clear accountability, funding, and inter-agency coordination.
• Poor Data Ecosystem: Underreporting and insufficient analysis of heat-related illness and mortality hinder targeted interventions.
• Urban Vulnerabilities: Slum areas face amplified heat due to poor ventilation, lack of vegetation, and inadequate infrastructure.
• Lack of Context-Specific Solutions: A uniform ‘stay indoors’ advisory may not be viable for the poor living in heat-retaining housing.
• Insufficient Public Infrastructure: Limited access to drinking water points, shade shelters, and ORS distribution hampers adaptation.

India’s Heat Action Plans

• India’s response to heatwaves began in 2013 with Ahmedabad’s Heat Action Plan (HAP) — the first of its kind in Asia. Today, over 23 States and 140 cities have formulated HAPs. These plans typically include:
  • Early warnings and public alerts,
  • Community awareness campaigns,
  • Health system preparedness,
  • Long-term mitigation through urban greening and cool roofing,
  • Data collection on morbidity and mortality.
• National Programme on Climate Change and Human Health (NPCCHH): This program, through the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), provides heat advisories and health-related information.

Way Forward

• Short-Term Measures:
  • Strengthen Heat Action Plans: Make them dynamic, locally tailored, and integrated with disaster management frameworks.
  • Early Warning Systems: Use IMD forecasts and mobile alerts to inform vulnerable populations in real time.
  • Immediate Relief Measures: Ensure availability of drinking water, shaded shelters, ORS, and heat-safe work guidelines.
  • Targeted Heat Advisories: Issue region-specific warnings considering humidity, vulnerability, and occupation-based risks.
• Long-Term Strategies:
  • Climate-Resilient Urban Planning: Promote cool roofing, reflective paints, green cover, and sustainable architecture.
  • ‘Summer Shelters’ and Cooling Centers: Safe zones for rest and hydration for the homeless, laborers, and migrants.
  • Skill Development and Employment Reform: Train workers in heat-resilient construction and introduce staggered work hours for outdoor laborers.
  • Insurance and Social Protection: Provide wage insurance for heat-affected workers and subsidized health support.
  • Integrated Climate Governance: Mainstream climate adaptation into policies across urban planning, agriculture, health, and labor sectors.
  • Considering Heatwaves as a Notified Disaster: There is an ongoing debate about including heatwaves under the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
    • However, concerns exist regarding the financial implications and the difficulty in directly attributing deaths to heatwaves.

Source: TH