Tackle Heatwaves with Short and Long-term Measures

Tackling Heatwaves: A Chronic Socio-Economic Challenge Amidst Climate Inequities

The recurrent and intensifying heatwaves in India are no longer mere seasonal anomalies—they signify a deeper governance failure in anticipating climate-induced disasters. The inadequacies in India's Heat Action Plans (HAPs) and urban planning reflect structural shortcomings that amplify vulnerabilities instead of mitigating them. The intersection of heat stress, socio-economic inequities, and climate maladaptation calls for a holistic recalibration of India's disaster governance framework.

Institutional Framework: Patchwork Policies Without Teeth

India’s policy response to heatwaves began promisingly with Ahmedabad’s Heat Action Plan (HAP) in 2013, a pioneering effort that set benchmarks in Asia by focusing on early warnings, community awareness, and urban greening. Today, over 140 cities and 23 states have drafted HAPs. However, these plans lack integration into broader disaster management frameworks. Despite India's ambitious National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) and its specific vertical—the National Programme on Climate Change and Human Health (NPCCHH)—implementation gaps persist.

Legally, heatwaves are not notified as disasters under the Disaster Management Act, 2005. This exclusion spares bureaucracies from accountability but stifles funding opportunities under programs like the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF). According to NDMA guidelines, states can deploy SDRF funds for notified disasters, but heatwaves remain outside its purview. Additionally, the 15th Finance Commission allocated Rs. 1.5 lakh crore for disaster response, yet none of these resources address heat stress directly.

The Argument: Heatwaves as Structural Inequities

Heatwaves disproportionately impact vulnerable populations—farmers, urban poor, and informal workers—who already reside on the margins of socio-economic stability. In 2023, India lost an estimated 6% of work hours due to heat stress, translating into a GDP loss of $75 billion. NSSO data from 2024 reveals that nearly 75% of India's labor force works in heat-exposed sectors like agriculture and construction, with minimal wage protection against heat-related productivity losses.

Urban heat islands exacerbate inequities. According to a 2018 study by TERI, densely packed slums in cities like Delhi can exhibit 5°C higher temperatures than nearby green zones. Despite the government’s initiatives on urban greening under programs like AMRUT 2.0, these efforts are statistically insignificant in cities with runaway concrete expansion.

The IMD’s warnings during heatwave episodes are commendable, but their reach is inequitable. Take urban slums, where manual laborers—and disproportionately women—work in conditions unbearable due to poor ventilation, housing with heat-retaining materials, and social norms limiting mobility. The Ministry of Health claims efficacy in distributing Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS), but anecdotal accounts from rural districts in UP and Bihar challenge the official narrative with glaring distribution failures.

Critique: Fragmented Disaster Governance

The institutional critique hinges on the lack of actionable coherence between NDMA, state disaster management authorities, and sectoral ministries. The Heat Action Plans (HAPs) are siloed initiatives, with no mandate to integrate urban development norms, labor regulations, or healthcare preparedness. The absence of cross-sectoral governance erodes climate resilience.

Second, India’s data reporting on heatwave mortalities is woefully inadequate. In 2024 alone, official estimates reported less than 2,000 deaths due to heatwaves—grossly underrepresenting cases of heat-related illnesses like cardiovascular stress and renal failure. The NCRB’s mortality database excludes non-accidental causes, leaving heatwave fatalities untraceable. This underreporting sabotages targeted health interventions and robust policy advocacy.

The Counter-Narrative: Is Notification as Disaster The Answer?

Opponents to heatwave notification argue that acknowledging heatwaves as disasters would overburden disaster management funds without corresponding benefits. Moreover, attributing deaths to heatwaves remains complex due to co-morbid conditions like dehydration, malnutrition, and cardiovascular diseases that complicate causality.

While such arguments hold technical ground, they ignore empirical evidence of cascading impacts on human health, agriculture, and power supply systems. An alternative to direct notification could involve embedding heatwave response within existing disaster fund prerogatives, like SDRF disbursement for heat-stress mitigation projects.

International Perspective: Lessons from Australia

Australia's approach to heatwave management offers a pointed contrast. Its state-level legislation, combined with the National Climate Resilience and Adaptation Strategy (2022), mandates proactive measures such as mandatory cooling centers and energy subsidies during heat spikes. Unlike India’s reactive alert-based system, Australia invests in longitudinal resilience—including "heat-safe homes" tailored for vulnerable elderly populations.

Furthermore, Melbourne's extensive tree canopy cover—33% of urban areas as per a 2023 report—epitomizes climate-adaptive urban planning. Comparatively, cities like Mumbai and Kolkata lag behind at less than 10%, reflecting the lethargy in India's greening programs.

Assessment: From Emergency Relief to Structural Reform

Tackling heatwaves necessitates both immediate and transformative measures. Short-term relief—shade shelters, hydration centers, targeted advisories—is critical but unsustainable in isolation. Long-term climate-resilient urban planning, inclusive labor laws, and extensive greening efforts must be mainstreamed into India’s governance architecture.

India must also embrace predictive climate modeling through IMD and private meteorological agencies to preempt intensified heat stress. Extending smart subsidies for heat-safe building materials and neighborhood cooling technologies should be incentivized, particularly in low-income housing projects under PMAY-U.

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