LMC unveils plan to combat heat waves in Lucknow
Lucknow Municipal Corporation, with UN Habitat, launched a Heat Action Plan to combat rising heat, featuring warnings, health services, and green initiatives.
The Lucknow Municipal Corporation, supported by experts from the United Nations Habitat Group, unveiled a Heat Action Plan (HAP) to tackle rising heat in Lucknow, at a programme held on Friday.
The plan was unveiled in the presence of municipal commissioner Inderjit Singh.
The plan aims to mitigate the risks of heatwaves and protect residents through measures such as heatwave warnings, health services, public awareness campaigns, cool shelters, adjusted working hours, green corridors, and cool roof installations.
The initiative will identify the city’s heat zones and take targeted action, incorporating nature-based solutions and green corridors to enhance urban resilience, a release from the Lucknow Municipal Corporation read.
Municipal Commissioner Inderjit Singh said, “The HAP outlines a range of preventive and protective measures, focusing on both short-term and long-term initiatives. These include the establishment of a heatwave warning system to ensure timely alerts, health assistance programmes to address heat-related illnesses, and public awareness campaigns to educate residents about the dangers of extreme heat. Additional strategies involve creating cool shelters to offer respite from the heat, adjusting working hours to protect laborers from heat exposure, and developing green corridors across the city to mitigate rising temperatures.”
A team of five experts participated in the event in which a comprehensive strategy for Lucknow was outlined. The severity and frequency of past heat waves was considered by analysing summer temperature trends, land surface temperatures, and vulnerability assessments.
The Disaster Management Authority, labour department, Public Works Department and police will play crucial roles in the successful execution of this plan.