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Beat the heat with People-Centric Responses
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Context
India experienced its first severe heatwave on March 15, 2025, 20 days earlier than in 2024. The number and intensity of heatwave days has risen over the last two decades. The impact is disproportionately severe on the poor, women, elderly, and informal workers.
Climate and Health Dimensions
- Heat Stress and Physiological Breakdown: Heat stress occurs when ambient temperature nears 37°C, impairing the body’s cooling system and damaging organs like kidneys, brain, and liver.
- Urban Heat Island Effect: Urban areas experience higher ambient temperatures than rural ones due to dense construction, reduced vegetation, and poor ventilation.
- Public Health Burden: Inadequate data hampers planning; excess heat-related mortality has been observed across Indian cities due to poor preparedness and surveillance.
Socio-Economic Vulnerability
- Labour Productivity Loss: Nearly 75% of India’s workforce (?380 million people) is in heat-exposed sectors like agriculture and construction, leading to loss of 5-6% work hours annually.
- Economic Impact on Informal Sector: Heat stress causes 3–5% GDP loss, hitting daily wage earners and informal workers hardest due to reduced income and job loss.
- Gendered Impact and Inequity: Women face extra vulnerability due to social norms (clothing, domestic roles) and lack of safe resting spaces, highlighting climate-induced gender inequity.
Policy and Governance Challenges
- Need for Localised and Nuanced Heat Action Plans (HAPs): Over 140 cities and 23 States have HAPs, but most lack humidity consideration, data-driven targeting, and local vulnerability mapping.
- Infrastructure and Adaptation Gaps: Urban planning must shift to cool roofs, green spaces, and resilient housing to mitigate long-term heat impacts.
- Short-Term vs Long-Term Strategies: Measures like staggered work hours, ORS distribution, and water points are essential but must be integrated with long-term inter-agency planning and insurance mechanisms.
Practice Question
Q. “Heatwaves in India are not merely climatic events but deeply embedded socio-economic and equity issues.” Discuss with reference to the need for people-centric and adaptive heat action strategies.More Articles
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