The Aryavarth Express
Agency (New Delhi): Sitting under a tree, Suman Mandal strains to fan her two-year-old son during a scorching afternoon near a construction site in southeast Delhi’s Sewa Nagar. The temperature has skyrocketed to 46 degrees Celsius, leaving Mandal, 37, and her two children — one aged four — visibly exhausted. “It is very difficult to work in this heat. But I cannot skip work or I will lose income,” she stated, noting that the heat also affects her children.
Sporting a checkered scarf to shield himself from the blazing sun, Sanjay Verma, 49, zigzags across south Delhi for eight hours delivering food. He says the extreme heat is slowing him down. “I take a break and drink water every 30 minutes, otherwise I will faint or drop dead,” he explained.
As various parts of India endure intense heat, outdoor workers, the elderly, and children are especially vulnerable. Productivity declines in hot weather, and children find it hard to focus on learning.
Experts indicate that these bouts of extreme heat have become more common and intense due to climate change. Recent analysis shows Delhi experienced temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius or higher on over 150 days in eight of the past ten years. Comparatively, only one year (2007) in the previous two decades recorded such high temperatures for more than 150 days.
The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) analyzed temperatures in the world’s 20 largest capital cities, revealing that Delhi saw temperatures reach or exceed 40 degrees Celsius on 1,557 days (about 43%) over the last decade. For consistency, the IIED used airport site data, drawing from the Indira Gandhi International Airport for Delhi. This densely populated city recorded temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius on 1,254 days (around 34%) from 2004 to 2013, and 1,180 days (around 32%) from 1994 to 2003.
Anna Walnycki, a principal researcher on IIED’s human settlements team, expressed concern over the rising frequency of extreme heat events in India due to climate change, emphasizing the severe impact on health, wellbeing, and productivity, especially among low-income and informal communities. “Low-income households have limited capacity to adapt to extreme heat due to poor access to water and electricity. Additionally, the design and construction of informal houses often result in poor ventilation and minimal shelter from extreme heat,” she said.
Chandni Singh, senior researcher at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements and IPCC lead author, noted that state and city-level heat action plans are currently “insufficient to deal with the heat we are now experiencing.” In urban areas, the heat’s impact varies based on factors like residential location, occupation, and access to cooling. “Understanding this unequal heat risk is a critical first step to developing nuanced heat action plans. Delhi’s current heat action plan needs to map heat hotspots and overlay this with existing vulnerability maps to inform heat action,” she added. Created last year, the city’s heat action plan suggests altering school timings, suspending non-essential water use, and ensuring an uninterrupted power supply to health facilities to mitigate the extreme heat’s effects. However, this plan has not yet been implemented.
There are approximately 3.4 million unorganized workers in Delhi, according to the central government’s e-Shram portal. Dharmendra Kumar of NGO Janpahal stated that most of these workers toil outdoors. “They often live in cramped one-room apartments without proper ventilation or cooling systems, exacerbating the effects of heat,” he explained. According to Bibyani Minj of Delhi-based Nirman Mazdoor Panchayat Sangam, a trade union of construction workers, there are around 10 lakh construction workers (including unregistered ones) in the city, the majority of whom are migrants. “Many workers were left without work during the pandemic. They have debts to repay and families to feed. So, they are traveling long distances and working longer hours in intense heat with little safety and support from contractors,” she noted.
Extreme heat gripped large parts of north India on Friday and Saturday, with temperatures soaring to a blistering 47.4 degrees Celsius on Delhi’s outskirts, the highest in the country so far this season. Last year, temperatures in parts of the capital exceeded 49 degrees Celsius. The Met office has issued a ‘red’ alert for Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, and west Rajasthan, stressing the need for “extreme care for vulnerable people.” With general elections approaching in India, experts have warned of an increased likelihood of heat-related illnesses due to prolonged sun exposure or heavy work. Delhi will go to polls on May 25.