Indian cities’ heat action plans must focus on high night-time temperatures, study says

NEW DELHI: April 2 A new analysis has found that heat risk in Indian cities is increasingly being shaped not only by daytime heatwaves but also by night-time heatwaves and compound heatwaves, which occur when a daytime heatwave is followed by a night-time heatwave.

This is significant because current Heat Action Plans (HAPs) and urban climate policies mainly focus on daytime heatwaves, according to the study. A HAP serves as an early warning system and preparedness plan for extreme heat events.

In an interview with PTI, Kashif Imdad, a co-author of the study and associate professor of geography at Kanpur’s Pandit Prithi Nath (PPN) PG College, said, “Most state and district plans, including the Uttar Pradesh State Plan, focus almost entirely on daytime heatwaves. We have not identified night-time and compound heatwaves as a problem yet.”