IT IS TIME TO PROTECT INDIA'S WORKERS FROM THE HEAT

Millions of urban informal workers in India continue to bear the brunt of flawed Heat Action Plans

- 

In the first week of April 2025, Delhi crossed a dangerous threshold: the temperature soared above 41°C, and nights offered little relief. These extreme conditions are no longer outliers but part of a new, deadly normal. With climate change intensifying year after year, Indian cities have become the epicentre of a growing crisis.

And while heatwaves affect everyone, it is India's millions of urban informal workers who are bearing the brunt of this slow-moving disaster. The Reserve Bank of India has pointed out, in 2024, that extreme heat threatens the health and livelihoods of occupationally exposed people, potentially causing a projected 4.5% loss to India’s GDP. Despite their considerable contribution, essential roles and sheer numbers, they are consistently excluded from the planning and implementation of urban heat response strategies. This exclusion has deadly consequences.

Many Indian cities now have Heat Action Plans (HAPs), inspired by pioneering efforts as in Ahmedabad. These plans, guided by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), are meant to prepare cities for increasingly frequent and intense heatwaves. Yet, more than a decade later, most HAPs remain perfunctory, underfunded and poorly coordinated.