CONTEXT: INTENSIFYING HEAT & INDIA’S STRUGGLES TO ADAPT

• India’s summers are becoming hotter, longer, and deadlier due to climate change.
• Heatwave days rose from 177 (2010) to 536 (2024) — a 200%+ increase.
• Heat-related deaths are underreported due to poor death certification, especially in rural and informal settings (homes, farms, construction sites).
• Traditional coping methods (mud houses, stepwells, shaded work cycles) are vanishing under modern urbanisation and rigid job structures.
• Lack of adaptation and poor risk communication have worsened public health and economic outcomes.

CONCEPT: HEAT WAVES – BEYOND TEMPERATURE

• A heatwave (as per IMD): ≥40°C in plains or ≥30°C in hills, with 4.5°C+ deviation above normal for two consecutive days.
• Heat affects health, productivity, food security, and infrastructure.
• Excess mortality analysis is used to assess underreported heat deaths — comparing observed deaths with long-term seasonal averages.
• The Global Burden of Disease (2021) estimated ~1.56 lakh heat-related deaths in India, far above official counts.
• Economic cost: 2022 heatwave reduced wheat yields by 4.5%, caused power demand surges, and hurt labour productivity.
• GDP risk: McKinsey warns of 2.5–4.5% annual GDP loss by 2030 if adaptation lags.

CURRENT: INSTITUTIONAL GAPS & REVIVAL OF TRADITIONAL WISDOM

Efforts & Initiatives

• Cities like Ahmedabad showed success with Heat Action Plans (HAPs) — saved ~1,190 lives annually.
• Bhubaneswar, Nagpur promoting green covers and cool roofs.
• Plans are in place, but often advisory, with no binding rules, insufficient funds, or trained staff.
• satya.gov.in-style alert systems, cooling shelters, and simplified public messaging are still rare.

Challenges

• Rural India lacks formal heat governance — no rural heat action plans.
• Key schemes like MGNREGA, National Health Mission, and Gram Panchayat Development Plans barely address heat risk.
• Heat warnings often in English/Hindi, via apps — fail to reach migrants, non-literate, rural populations.
• Public health communication doesn’t reflect real “feels like” temperatures (factoring humidity, radiation, wind).
• Traditional cooling practices are being lost due to planning that favours concrete over climate-sensitive designs.

WAY FORWARD

• Integrate heat risk into national programmes: PMAY, MGNREGA, NHM.
• District-level heat plans under Disaster Management Act, 2005 — with real-time alerts, shaded shelters, water access, and multilingual communication.
• Update building codes to mandate passive cooling.
• Use Fifteenth Finance Commission and District Mineral Funds for local cooling interventions.
• Promote revival of traditional architecture, e.g., mud, lime, jaalis, baolis, with modern science.
• Ensure inter-agency coordination: IMD, NDMA, SDMAs, ULBs, and Panchayats.

CONCLUSION

• India is not lacking in knowledge, but in implementation.
• Blending ancestral wisdom with modern policy, backed by clear roles, funding, and political will, is key to surviving the climate crisis.
• Heat is no longer seasonal — it’s structural. India must adapt now or face worsening health, economic, and social fallout.

MAINS QUESTIONS

• Analyze the limitations of traditional coping methods in mitigating the effects of heatwaves in urban and rural India.
• What are the institutional gaps in India’s response to heatwaves, and how can they be addressed?