Delhi will alter school timings, suspend non-essential water use, provide uninterrupted power supply to health facilities and survey vulnerable locations daily to mitigate the impact of extreme heat on susceptible populations in peak summers, according to the city’s new heat action plan.
The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), which prepared the plan and submitted it to the Centre last month, also plans a pilot project to paint roofs in identified areas with white colour to help keep the indoors cooler.
The nodal officer, who will be responsible for the implementation of the heat action plan (HAP), is still to be appointed. Delhi is one of the hottest cities in India and ranks among the most susceptible to heat waves due to its large population and a significant concentration of lower-income groups.
India reported 706 heatwave incidents from 1971-2019 which claimed more than 17,000 lives, according to a paper authored by M Rajeevan, former secretary of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, along with scientists Kamaljit Ray, S S Ray, R K Giri and A P Dimri.
A study by the Indian Institute of Technology-Gandhinagar says India could witness a staggering 30-fold increase in severe heat waves by 2100. A 75-fold rise is predicted under a business-as-usual scenario.
The Delhi HAP relies on heat wave forecasts from the India Meteorological Department for the next seven days for issuing colour-coded alerts to the local population.
A ‘red alert’ will be triggered when the maximum temperature exceeds the normal temperature by at least 6 degrees Celsius. An ‘orange alert’ will be issued if the maximum temperature is four to five degrees Celsius above normal, while a ‘yellow alert’ will be given for a departure from normal ranging from 0 to 3.9 degrees Celsius.
The heat action plan will be implemented in three phases.
1. Phase 1 (February and March) – Early warning systems and a communication plan will be developed for issuing alerts to the public, healthcare professionals, and voluntary groups.
2. In Phase 2 (March to July) – Cooling centres including temples, public buildings, malls, and night shelters, will be activated to offer outdoor workers, and slum communities access to cool areas.
3. Under Phase 3 (July-September) – Cool resting centres will be established in high-risk areas and tree plantation will be done in heat hotspots.
