India has taken a proactive stance on extreme heat risk management, with Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, Dr. P.K. Mishra, emphasizing the need for transboundary cooperation at the Special Session on Extreme Heat Risk Governance in Geneva on June 6, 2025. He underscored that heatwaves pose systemic risks to densely populated urban areas, threatening public health, economic stability, and ecological resilience.
Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, India has transitioned from disaster response to an integrated preparedness strategy, implementing National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) guidelines since 2016, revised in 2019, to facilitate Heat Action Plans (HAPs) across 250 cities and districts in 23 heat-prone states. He highlighted the success of the Ahmedabad Heat Action Plan, which pioneered early warnings, inter-agency coordination, and community outreach to mitigate heatwave-related fatalities.
Dr. Mishra outlined India’s whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach, engaging ministries in health, agriculture, urban development, labor, power, water, education, and infrastructure, alongside public health institutes, research groups, and civil society organizations. Schools have become catalysts for behavioral change, educating children on climate resilience, while hospitals and primary health centers have been strengthened for heat emergency responses.
India is integrating Urban Heat Island (UHI) assessments into city planning, deploying cool roof technologies, passive cooling centers, urban greening, and the revival of traditional water bodies to address long-term heatwave mitigation. A major policy shift now allows National and State Disaster Mitigation Funds (SDMF) to support heatwave prevention projects, opening avenues for co-financing by local governments, private entities, NGOs, and citizens.
Recognizing heatwaves as transboundary risks, Dr. Mishra urged global data sharing, joint research, and technological collaboration to develop a localized heat-humidity index using real-time data. He reaffirmed India’s commitment to sharing expertise and technical capacities, ensuring a resilient, coordinated international response to extreme heat challenges.
