In this Indian city, smartwatches are part of solution to dealing with searing heat

It’s a little past 10 a.m. and the heat is already blazing on the outskirts of the Western Indian city of Ahmedabad.

- By SIBI ARASU

Sapnaben Chunara, a 30-year-old mother of three, has just finished her morning chores. She seeks respite from the heat in the shade of a neem tree, a species that can withstand high temperatures and drought.

Chunara spends most of the day outdoors in Vanzara Vas, a low-income neighborhood of about 800 families, because her tin-roofed house is even hotter. Indoor temperatures can be even higher, especially when outside they climb above 40 degrees Celsius (104 F).

That was once rare but now happens regularly. And this year, high heat started three weeks earlier than in previous years, touching 43 degrees Celsius (109.40 F) in early April.

"Sometimes it gets so hot, I can’t think straight," said Chunara, sporting a black smartwatch that contrasts sharply with her colorful bangles and sari.

Chunara is one of 204 residents of Vanzara Vas given the smartwatches for a year-long study to find out how heat affects vulnerable communities around the world. The watches measure heart rate and pulse and track sleep, and participants get weekly blood pressure checks.

Researchers also painted some roofs with reflective paint to reduce indoor heat and will compare them to homes without so-called cool roofs using indoor heat sensors. Along with the smartwatches, this will help them understand how much cool roofs can help poor households deal with India’s scorching summers.

Chunara, whose home didn't get a cool roof, said she's happy to participate by wearing the watch, confident the results will help her family, too.