Why aren’t Heatwaves a disaster?
India is home to 98 of the world's 100 hottest cities, with temperatures crossing 48°C, across the country. Research estimates that a single day of extreme heat causes about 3,400 excess deaths across India.
Year after year, it’s only getting worse. But heatwaves are still not declared as a national disaster. This means there's very little funds allocated for heatwave mitigation, adaptation and relief.
We the undersigned, hereby demand
1. Heatwave be declared as a notified national disaster to ensure adequate support to worst affected communities and to also ensure adaptation measures are systemically implemented
2. The Government allocate a central fund and create a nodal agency to coordinate Heat Action Plans(HAP)