‘Expanding Heat Resilience’ Report

April 9, 2022

According to a new report titled ‘Expanding Heat Resilience,’ the cities and districts of India must increase their efforts to protect the vulnerable during the summer. The report has been released while the country, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), has recorded its warmest March since 1901.

Overview

This report was released on 6^th April 2022.
In March 2022, temperatures reached 40 degrees Celsius across large parts of western and central India.
According to this report, the cities of the country are reeling under heatwaves.
In Kerala, and Himachal Pradesh extreme temperatures are being recorded. These states have no history of heatwaves.
This report has been released by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).
According to the report, in 2019 the number of states that are affected by heatwaves stood at 28 whereas in 2018 it was 19.

Action plans that have been highlighted in this report

The NRDC report has highlighted heat action plans that have been implemented by a few Indian states. Heat warnings have been issued by Andhra Pradesh and the state government has also created public awareness. Odisha has restricted the use of public transportation services during peak hours in the summer with the aim of limiting passengers’ exposure to heat stress. The report also talks about the success of the heat action plan of Ahmedabad that was introduced in 2013 and is South Asia’s first such initiative developed. This initiative helped in avoiding 1,190 deaths a year due to heat.

Action plans that should be incorporated by the states

The report has suggested certain action plans that are:

To build awareness community outreach must be increased.
Early warning systems should be implemented to alert the public.
Healthcare workers of the states should be given proper training.
Focus should be given to the vulnerable population like construction workers, farmers, traffic police, etc.
Adaptive measures that must be implemented like providing cooling centres, drinking water, gardens, and spaces of shade during extreme heat days.
The need to build city-level resilience.
Municipal corporations must also initiate programs that are tailor-made for their respective communities and must also improve on coordination, planning, surveillance, capacity building, etc. to deal with the continuous climate change.

Need for this report

This report will help experts to formulate plans that will help during the summer months and will also help in monitoring the deaths during or immediately after a heatwave.

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