Tackling extreme heat risks in India

As the climate crisis heightens extreme heat risks in India, authorities must work to further strengthen these plans and adapt them in consultation with local communities

Delhi recorded its fifth consecutive day of heat wave (when the maximum temperature is above 40°C and 4.5°C above normal) on Monday. The Safdarjung observatory, the Capital’s base weather station, recorded a maximum temperature of 42.6 degrees Celsius (°C), seven degrees above normal, making it the hottest April day since 2017, when the temperature touched 43.2°C on April 21. This year has been scorching with no western disturbance, which brings cooling pre-monsoon rain in the region, since February-end. In its seasonal outlook for 2022, the India Meteorological Department forecast a higher probability of heatwaves occurring over west-central and some parts of northwest India.

As the climate crisis fuels more frequent, intense, and longer heatwaves, record-breaking temperatures are becoming a significant health threat, as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Sixth Assessment Report highlighted. (AFP)

As the climate crisis fuels more frequent, intense, and longer heatwaves, record-breaking temperatures are becoming a significant health threat, as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Sixth Assessment Report highlighted. Health risks from heat stress are especially dangerous for certain populations, including older people, city dwellers, those living with chronic health conditions or in slums and low-income communities because of the combined effects of heightened heat exposures, health vulnerabilities, and limited access to affordable cooling options.

Extreme heat exposures, already a public health emergency in India that killed an estimated 46,600 people aged 65 or older in 2019, continue to worsen. The good news is that IMD now offers district-level vulnerability maps on heatwaves. The Centre is also working with 23 heatwave-prone states and over 130 cities and districts to develop and implement individual Heat Action Plans. A robust public health policy response to extreme heat events must include early warning systems, effective outreach strategies to improve community awareness, and tailored measures to reach vulnerable populations. As the climate crisis heightens extreme heat risks in India, authorities must work to further strengthen these plans and adapt them in consultation with local communities. After all, climate resilience is, in part, about asking people to think differently and see extreme heat and other climate challenges as solvable public health issues.