It’s been just twelve years since Ahmedabad, a major city in western India, experienced a devastating heatwave. In one lethal week in May 2010, temperatures surpassed 48 degrees Celsius and 800 people died. Authorities advised people to stay indoors during the hottest part of the day as hospitals were overloaded. Bats and birds dropped dead from the trees they roosted in.
Ahmedabad has always experienced hot weather, but the 2010 conditions were exacerbated by climate change and a slow-moving cyclone.
Since that tragic week, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation partnered with the India Institute of Public Health- Gandhinagar (IIPH-G) and the US Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) to develop India’s first heat action plan. An estimated 1,190 deaths have been avoided each year since its launch in 2013. Heat action plans have since expanded to over 23 states and more than 100 cities and districts through the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
