Heatwaves are health and economic risks

Recognizing the adverse health impact and potential decline in economic productivity, several states such as Gujarat, Odisha and Telangana have formulated action plans to address the adaptation to heatwaves. In response to the extreme heatwave event of 2010, the city of Ahmedabad was the first in Asia to develop a Heat Action Plan which laid the foundation for similar initiatives in other cities. While many city and state-led initiatives are now past the design stage, several key gaps are emerging as far as implementation of the heat action plans is concerned. One such is the consideration of "heat island effect" - where urban cores can have significantly higher temperatures compared to the surrounding area.