India takes lead in extreme heat risk management under PM Modi’s leadership
New Delhi, June 7 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) India has taken a proactive and forward-thinking approach to extreme heat risk management under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said Dr PK Mishra, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister.
Delivering the keynote address during the Special Session on Extreme Heat Risk Governance in Geneva, he underlined that rising temperatures posing a systemic risk to public health, economic stability, and ecological resilience.
“India welcomes the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction’s (UNDRR) initiative to advance the Common Framework for Extreme Heat Risk Governance as a platform for shared learning, guidance, and collaboration,” he told the gathering, according to a Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) statement on Saturday.
Dr Mishra pointed out that India has moved beyond disaster response toward integrated preparedness and mitigation strategies. Since 2016, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has developed comprehensive national guidelines on heatwave management, revised in 2019, which laid the foundation for decentralised Heat Action Plans (HAPs).
He acknowledged the pioneering ‘Ahmedabad Heat Action Plan’, which demonstrated how early warnings, inter-agency coordination, and community outreach can save lives.
“Over 250 cities and districts across 23 heat-prone states have operational Heat Action Plans, supported by NDMA’s advisory, technical, and institutional mechanisms”, said the Principal Secretary, underscoring that strengthened surveillance, hospital readiness, and awareness campaigns have significantly reduced heatwave-related mortality.
India’s approach is whole-of-government and whole-of-society, engaging ministries from health, agriculture, urban development, labour, power, water, education, and infrastructure.
“Extreme heat deeply impacts communities, and India has actively incorporated traditional wisdom and local experiences into its response”, said Dr Mishra.
He noted that schools have become catalysts for behavioural change, educating children about climate resilience. He also emphasised that hospitals and primary health centres must be strengthened to ensure swift and effective emergency responses.
Outlining India’s transition from a preparedness-only approach to long-term heatwave mitigation, including cool roof technologies, passive cooling centres, urban greening, and the revival of traditional water bodies, Mishra affirmed that India is integrating Urban Heat Island (UHI) assessments into city planning.
He called for a global focus on developing a localised heat-humidity index based on real-time data to enhance early warning systems, advancing building technologies and passive cooling innovations that are affordable and culturally appropriate and addressing equity concerns, as extreme heat disproportionately affects women, outdoor workers, the elderly, and children.
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