Heatwaves have claimed 17,000 lives in 50 years in India. But until 2015, India did not have a national-level strategy to deal with the disaster
It’s the “hottest summer ever”. Large parts of the country are experiencing a blistering heatwave with temperatures crossing the 45 degrees-Celsius mark.
It’s unlikely that there’s any relief soon. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said that the heatwave spell will continue over northwest and central India for the next four days and east India over the next two days. “A rise of about two degrees Celsius in the maximum temperature (is) very likely over most parts of northwest India during the next two days,” it declared. This means in some parts of the country the mercury might touch a scorching 47 degrees Celsius.
An orange alert has been issued for Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra’s Vidarbha region for the next four days, which is a warning to the states to be prepared and a red alert means to take action.
But does India have an action plan to tackle the deadly heatwave? We take a look.
India’s killer heatwaves
A heatwave is declared when the maximum temperature of a place crosses 40 degrees Celsius over the plains, 37 degrees Celsius along the coasts, and 35 degrees Celsius in hilly areas. According to the IMD, this is when the temperature can cause harm to the human body.
Heatwave is one of the extreme weather events (EWE). It has claimed more than 17,000 lives in 50 years in India, according to a paper published by India’s top meteorologists last year.
More than 6,000 people were killed because of heatwaves over eight years until 2018. Of that, government records show, 34 per cent (2,081 deaths) were in 2015, the year that saw one of the world’s deadliest heatwaves on record, according to an April 2020 IndiaSpend report.
There were 706 heatwave incidents in the country from 1971 to 2019. Yet it was only in 2015 that India developed a national-level strategy to fight the calamity. Before that, the primary responsibility for disaster management rested with state governments, according the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), which is headed by the country’s prime minister.
Heatwaves were not notified as a disaster at the national level under the existing disaster relief policies. But state governments were allowed to spend up to 10 per cent of funds for heatwave relief, reports Business Standard (BS).
However, the states of Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha, which experience frequent heatwaves, had declared it a local disaster.
An Indian girl sits under a temporary shade made by joining two bed bases as she works on a roadside during a hot day in Churu, Rajasthan. The poor and the vulnerable are the most affected by the heatwave. AFP
No action plan until 2015 heatwave disaster
The deadly 2015 heatwave shook up Indian authorities and the disaster became among the top priorities of the NDMA. The following year, the body drew up the first national guidelines for heatwaves titled “Preparation of Action Plan-Prevention and Management of Heat Wave”.
Since then guidelines have been revised “after a series of consultations with experts and are aligned with local needs and international trends”, said the NDMA. The aim is to improve and strengthen the country’s preparedness and response to heatwaves in the short term and mitigate their adverse impact in the long term, said a document signed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019.
The revisions in 2019 included a new section called “Built Environment”, which looks at the role of urban areas in climate change. It asks each city to assess its built environment and identify major factors contributing to the urban heat island phenomenon. This is a long-term goal that calls for identifying heatwave hotspots and developing vertical gardens and small parks.
Immediate action plan
According to the NDMA document, 17 heatwave-prone states prepared Heat WaveAction Plans, and more than 120 districts or cities from14 states have also prepared their plans in place.
The biggest casualties of extreme heat are the poor – roadside dwellers, daily wage labourers, and street hawkers. The NDMA plan has been devised keeping them in mind.
Over the years, the NDMA has also taken several measures that include rescheduling of working hours for outdoor workers, creation of drinking water kiosks, supply of water through tankers, erection of special shelter homes, increase in health facilities, stocking of ORS packets at health centres and anganwadis, placement of cooling systems and construction of gaushalas with fodder banks, among other, reports Business Standard.
As the country continues to face heatwave after heatwave, state governments have stepped up and devised ways to deal with the disaster.
Delhi supplying more water
Delhi is among the most-affected places. On 28 April, it saw the hottest day in the month in 12 years as temperatures hit 43.5 degrees Celsius.
Now the Arvind Kejriwal-led government has swung into action. It will supply around 1,000 million gallons of drinking water every day during the peak summer season (April-July). Earlier, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) supplied 935 MGD of potable water to the city residents on average, reports news18.com.
A total of 1,198 water tankers enabled with GPS for transparency will be deployed across the national capital to prevent water shortage, according to DJB’s Summer Action Plan.
The board said that the emergency control rooms have been provided with adequate staff, communication facilities, and better equipment for grievance redressal and monitoring.
The NDMA has taken several measures that include rescheduling of working hours for labourers during the hot summer months. AP
Karnataka recommends outdoor break from 11 am to 3 pm
Karnataka action plan includes recommendations like taking a break from all outdoor work, including all forms of labour and MGNREGA work. There should be no classes at educational institutions from 11 am to 3 pm and work and study hours should be rescheduled accordingly.
The action plan drafted by the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Cell (KSNDMC) recommends setting up of temporary kiosks or “cooling centres” in temples, public buildings, malls, and other spaces for distribution of water, ORS powder/buttermilk, medicines, and for shelter; provision of additional fans and other cooling infrastructure in schools, and avoiding outdoor classes and games at schools, reports The Hindu.
It asks hospitals to be prepared to deal with cases of heatstroke and other heat-related ailments. In slum pockets, it recommends the adoption of “cool roof” which includes coatings and treatments such as lime-based whitewash, white tarp, white china mosaic tiles, and acrylic resin coating, a cheap and easier option to provide thermal comfort, the newspaper reports.
Maharashtra acts to reduce heatwave fatalities
Maharashtra has chalked out a plan to prevent fatalities during the heatwave. By April, the state had reported seven deaths and 59 incidents related to heat.
State surveillance officer Dr Pradip Awate said that they have issued directives that have been circulated to hospitals. Districts in the state are required to adopt heat action plans and set up committees to investigate heatstroke deaths. A state-level workshop with experts from BJ Medical College, Pune, was conducted to train district officials in managing cases of heatstroke.
Vidarbha in Maharashtra has consistently reported maximum temperatures in the range of 40 degrees Celsius to 45 degrees Celsius for the past two months.
Schools shut in Odisha
Odisha has a dedicated heatwave committee chaired by the Odisha State Disaster Management Authority and it has representatives from other relevant departments such as water and sanitation.
Summer vacations in the state were cut short by 35 days this year and have been announced for 6 June to 16 June. Due to the prevailing heatwave in the state, a five-day suspension of classes for all students has been announced from 26 April to 20 April. It has also shut anganwadis and other educational instututions.
West Bengal and Telagana have also adopted similar measures.
Ahmedabad first city with an action plan
Ahmedabad is the first city in the country to have its own heat action plan after it recorded 1,344 deaths due to a heatwave in May 2010, reports Times Now. The model is based on early-warning systems, colour-coded alerts, community outreach programmes, and reduced timings for schools and factories.
The first Heat Action Plan was prepared in 2013 with help from national and international academic experts and implementing global best practices on warning systems and heat adaptation.
With inputs from agencies
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