KOLKATA - Calls for Indian cities and towns to ramp up their heat resilience to protect vulnerable groups are getting louder as temperatures break new records in the country.
Last month was the hottest March since record-keeping began in India in 1901, with the average maximum temperature touching 33.1 deg C. The previous high was 33.09 deg C for March 2010.
Ahead of summer this year, when temperatures soar past 45 deg C, a report by the Natural Resources Defence Council, a non-profit group headquartered in the United States, urged the Indian authorities to prepare for the hotter future. They could do this by "addressing the heat resilience of the built environment" and focusing on protecting the "heat-vulnerable groups" who are exposed to high temperatures, but lack access to affordable and efficient air-conditioning to keep cool.
"Long-term urban planning is necessary to save lives and keep communities healthy," added the report released on April 5.
Many parts of India are already reeling from unusually early heatwaves. In its outlook for this year's hot weather season from March to May, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said above-normal maximum temperatures are "most likely" over many areas in the western and adjoining areas of central India, north-west India and northernmost parts of north-east India.
Record-breaking temperatures have become a recurring phenomenon as climate change fuels more frequent, longer and intense heat spells in different parts of the world. A 2021 study reported that 17,362 people had died from heatwave stress in India between 1971 and 2019.
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the IMD have been working with 23 heatwave-prone states to develop their heat action plans (HAPs). Mr Anup Kumar Srivastava, a senior consultant with the NDMA, said 19 of these states have finalised their dedicated HAPs.
"Our approach earlier (to disasters) was relief-centric, but now we focus on prevention, preparedness, mitigation and, if required, then response and relief," he added.
The city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat was the first city in South Asia to launch such a plan in 2013. It includes several interventions such as early warnings, colour-coded temperature alerts, community outreach programmes and even reduced timings for schools and factories.
A 2014 study found that an estimated excess of 1,344 deaths had occurred in the city because of a brutal heatwave in May 2010, compared with the average death count for May 2009 and May 2011.
This set the ball rolling for setting up an HAP for the city, which, according to another study in 2018, avoided an estimated 2,380 deaths in 2014 and 2015.
Dr Dileep Mavalankar, director of the Indian Institute of Public Health-Gandhinagar (IIPH-G), said a more honest and transparent reporting of daily deaths is critical so that excess mortality due to heatwaves (or other causes) is ascertained and HAPs prioritised.
"The sad thing is that India has not been recording mortality from all causes. Even if it is recording, it is not making it public," he told The Straits Times. "Each city should publicise daily deaths… This way other cities such as Delhi will wake up too," he added. IIPH-G is one of the technical partners of the Amdavad Municipal Corporation for its HAP.
Dr Mavalankar also said public outreach has to be ramped up along with a concerted campaign from various government departments to implement HAPs more effectively on the ground, besides employing experts to analyse mortality data and correlate it to environmental factors such as heat.