HEATWAVES ARE COMING CAN INDIA HANDLE IT

THE CONTEXT:

Due to climate change, India faces intensifying heatwaves, with 2025 witnessing record-breaking temperatures. A 2025 study by the Sustainable Futures Collaborative (SFC) titled “Is India Ready for a Warming World?” analyzed Heat Action Plans (HAPs) in 9 high-risk cities (Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, etc.), covering 11% of India’s urban population. The study highlights systemic gaps in long-term planning, raising concerns about rising heat-related mortality.

KEY FINDINGS OF THE STUDY:

1. Short-Term Focus: Firefighting vs Futureproofing

A. Emergency Measures as Baseline Response

• • • • Status: All 9 cities (Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, etc.) implemented short-term protocols like:
        • Drinking water kiosks (citations: NDMA guidelines)
        • Adjusted work hours for laborers (e.g., Gujarat’s 2024 directive for 10 AM–3 PM work bans)
        • Emergency hospital wards (e.g., Delhi’s 2024 surge capacity of 1,200 beds)
      • Gaps:
        • Reactive policymaking: 73% of measures driven by top-down disaster management directives, not HAPs.
        • Vulnerability blindspots: Only 5% of HAPs (2/37) include localized heat-risk maps (CPR, 2023).

B. Heat Mortality Trends

Year	Reported Deaths	Data Source	Discrepancy
2020	530	NDMA (Lok Sabha7)	NGO HeatWatch: 733 deaths in 2024
2024	161 (confirmed)	NDMA	Underreporting due to ICD-10 codes

2. Long-Term Neglect: Systemic Vulnerabilities

A. Missing Structural Interventions

• • • • • Occupational risks: 80% of India’s workforce is informal; yet ZERO HAPs mandate employer-provided cooling (e.g., Rajasthan’s 2024 pilot for construction workers).
        • Energy Grids: Only Surat (Gujarat) initiated smart grid retrofits for load management during heatwaves.
        • Urban Planning: Cool roofs absent in 95% of cities despite Ahmedabad’s 2013 success (2°C reduction).

B. Funding & Legal Challenges

• • • • • Financial gaps: 89% of HAPs (33/37) lack dedicated budgets; rely on CSS funds (e.g., MGNREGA for urban shade).
        • Institutional inertia: 25% of city planners cite no legal mandate to act on heat (SFC, 2025).

3. Implementation Hurdles: Governance Fractures

A. Coordination Failures

• • • • Siloed departments: Health vs. urban development ministries operate in policy vacuums (e.g., Mumbai’s 2024 heatwave: hospitals overflowed while BMC planted trees in low-risk zones).
      • Capacity deficits: <5% of officials accessed CMIP6 climate projections (1.5–2°C scenarios).

B. Case Study: Delhi’s 2024 Heat Crisis

• • • • Reactive governance: Draft HAP 2023 notified only after media uproar over 48°C temperatures.
      • Fragmented accountability: 14 agencies involved in heat management; no nodal authority.

THE WAY FORWARD:

         Legal Empowerment via 74th Constitutional Amendment

• • • Constitutional Leverage: Empower ULBs under Article 243W (12th Schedule) to integrate heat resilience into urban planning.
    • Model Law: Amend Town Planning Acts to mandate:
      • Cool Roof Bylaws (e.g., Hyderabad’s 2025 policy requiring 30% reflective surfaces in slums).
      • Heat-Resilient Zoning (Ahmedabad’s 2024 land-use plan prioritizing green buffers near informal settlements).
    • Vidhi Centre’s 2025 report urges “climate-proofing municipal laws” via NDMA Act amendments.

 

Climate-Responsive Financing via 15th Finance Commission

• • • • Disaster Funds: Allocate 25% of National Disaster Mitigation Fund (₹32,000 crore, 2024-25) to HAP infrastructure.
        •  Odisha’s ₹450 crore HAP (2024) funded via SDRF-CSS convergence.
      • Green Bonds: Issue municipal bonds for cool corridors (Chennai’s 2025 mangrove project raised ₹120 crore).
      • CSS Optimization: Redirect PMAY-U (₹48,000 cr) for heat-resilient housing; use MGNREGA (₹86,000 cr) for urban greening. Only 3/37 HAPs identified funding sources (Carbon Brief 2025).

 

Chief Heat Officers (CHOs) with Inter-State Council Backing

• • • • CHO Network: Appoint CHOs under Inter-State Council (Art 263)for cross-department coordination.

• • • • • Miami’s CHO reduced heat deaths by 45% via hyper-local alerts (2024).
      • Capacity Building: Launch NIDM Heat Academies with modules on CMIP6 projections (1.5°C scenarios). Surat’s CHO (2023) streamlined 8 departments to plant 50,000 shade trees in high-risk zones.

AI-Driven Vulnerability Mapping (SDG 11 Alignment)

• • • • IMD-ISRO Heat Atlas: Deploy Bhuvan-3 satellite data for ward-level risk mapping.
        • Pune’s 2024 AI model with IIT-Bombay identified 12 slums as “extreme risk”.

• • • • Heat Index Mandate: Amend Disaster Management Act 2005 to integrate IMD’s India-Specific Hazard Index (Thane HAP 2024). NDMA’s 2025 directive for all cities to adopt Heat Vulnerability Scorecards by 2026.

 

Community-Led Adaptation via Panchayati Raj Institutions

• • • • SHG Networks: Train 50,000 SHGs under National Rural Livelihood Mission for last-mile heat awareness.
        • Odisha’s 2024 campaign reduced heat deaths by 60% in Angul district.
      • Labour Rights: Enforce Occupational Safety Code 2020 Section 29 for employer-provided cooling.
        Grassroots Model: Ahmedabad’s 2023 community workshops cut heatstroke cases by 35% (NDMA data).

 

Global Partnerships via COP28 Loss & Damage Fund

• • • • GCF Funding: Secure $200 million for National Heat Resilience Mission (Bhubaneswar’s 2025 proposal).
      • Knowledge Transfer: Adopt Medellín’s Green Corridors (3°C temp drop) via Indo-Colombia MoU. Leverage Global Methane Pledge (2021) to fund methane-reducing cool farming (e.g., Punjab’s 2024 paddy technique).

 

THE CONCLUSION: India must pioneer a paradigm shift from reactive heat governance to equitable, systemic adaptation. It must empower citizens through green infrastructure equity, leveraging global frameworks like the Loss & Damage Fund to build cities where dignity, not degrees, defines climate resilience.

UPSC PAST YEAR QUESTION: Bring out the causes for the formation of heat islands in the urban habitat of the world. 2013

MAINS PRACTICE QUESTION: Discuss the institutional and financial challenges hindering the implementation of long-term heat-resilience strategies in Indian cities. Suggest a roadmap for developing a sustainable national heat governance framework aligned with the Global Goal on Adaptation (Glasgow Pact) and India’s National Adaptation Plan (NAP).

SOURCE: https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/ilaiyaraaja-music-tamil-nadu-9907761/

 

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