Is your city prepared for the next heatwave?

This year, we witnessed the hottest March in India’s recorded history since 1901. There has been a 55% increase in deaths due to extreme heat in India between 2000-2004 & 2017-2021 (Lancet, 2022). Intense heat waves (4.5 C to 6.4 C above normal temperature) can be disastrous causing various health impacts like heat stroke, heat stress and even death. With extreme heat events becoming more frequent, Heat Action Plans (HAPs) are being formulated at both state & city-level by disaster management authorities & city governments respectively.

HAPs are a set of guidelines to create a framework for implementation, coordination & evaluation of measures that can manage negative impacts of heat in a particular region. Guidelines establish action plans for various strategies ranging from early warning, training healthcare professionals & community engagement to mitigation & long-term solutions.

India's first HAP was formulated in Odisha in 1999 after the heat wave of 1998 in which nearly 2000 people died. In 2016, The NDMA came up with a set of guidelines for states to set up effective heat action plans; following which many states have come up with their own heat action plans.

The first city-level HAP in India was developed in Ahmedabad by Ahmedabad Municipal corporation in collaboration with the US’ Georgia Institute of Technology in 2013 following a severe heatwave in 2010. A study done in 2018 revealed that the Ahmedabad HAP was associated with a reduced death rate on hot days; the city avoided more than 1100 deaths each year after it was implemented. It has since become a model for developing HAPs in other cities of India. Following Ahmedabad, cities like Nagpur, Hazaribagh and Surat also came up with their own HAPs.

City-based HAPs allow the formulation of specifically tailored action plans that may be more effective for long term solutions. The NDMA also came up with a nation-wide ‘cool roof challenge’ in 2021, encouraging cities to announce targets for installing cool roofs in preparation for the incoming heat waves.

Does your city have a Heat Action Plan? Does it need one? To know more, read.