India has been consistently warming up. Decade after decade, temperatures have been rising, and this is a one-way journey unless humanity makes a dramatic course correction.
All the heatwave deaths that are in the news are the result of this relentless warming. You will see a lot of numbers floating around, especially the recent viral study that a single day of extreme heat causes roughly 3,400 excess deaths across India, and a five-day heatwave nearly 30,000. But the truth is, we still don’t have good statistics on how many Indians are losing their lives because of heatwaves.
What we do know is this: a vast majority of Indian employment is still informal. The number of people employed in agriculture, construction, gig work, and other outdoor work remains disproportionately high. We have come a long way, but this is still the reality for a very large number of Indians.
For many Indians, staying indoors when temperatures rise is simply not a luxury they can afford. There is also a deep inequality in access to cooling. Yes, the fact that almost all of India has been electrified is a genuine achievement. But access to air coolers, let alone air conditioners, is still low and mostly concentrated among people with higher incomes. Fans only do so much when the heat is this brutal.
This is the inequality of heat. People with good incomes can afford coolers and ACs. They can work from home and can avoid the worst hours of the day. But this is a small subset of India.
Remember, more than 40% of Indians are still employed in agriculture, even though agriculture’s share of India’s GDP has consistently declined. These are the real Indians who will be most affected by rising temperatures. Many of the regions most exposed to climatic shocks like El Niño and heatwaves are also among the poorer regions of northern India.
So the people who will be hit the hardest by rising temperatures are the poorest Indians, across regions that are yet to see real prosperity.
Sadly, this is a systemic crisis. Individual actions help, but they are not enough. We need collective action, not just at a country level, but at a global level. Climate change is not an Indian problem but a global problem.
That said, there are still some low-hanging fruits that can start making a difference.
There is a lot of debate and controversy over India’s forest cover and whether it has increased or decreased. But when it comes to cities, we can see the loss of green cover firsthand. Trees are cut to make way for roads, houses, flyovers, and buildings. Whatever few trees remain are often trapped under pavements and concrete. This weakens them. This is one reason why trees often fall even after moderate rains.
If you have space, you can plant native species like neem, moringa, jamun, amla, and curry leaves. These trees have deep roots and can survive better. People often avoid planting trees because they worry that the roots will damage the foundations of their homes. But in many cases, this fear is overstated.
These are small things which help.
But as depressing as it sounds, this problem ultimately needs systemic, collective action at a global level. And judging by the way the world is heading, it is very hard to have hope.
Rising temperatures are a serious challenge. They don’t have easy explanations, and they definitely don’t have easy solutions.
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Market driven development is enabling developers to pave every square inch for profit, in exchange for planting or retaining vegetation. Cities like Ahmedabad, Delhi, and Mumbai are paying for this through intensifying urban heat island effects.
The issue is less about lack of awareness and more about weak institutional incentives. Environmental outcomes are nobody’s core mandate. Climate risk is acknowledged in principle, but enforcement, budgeting, and land-use decisions remain disconnected from it. Even if the effects are accepted by the said government, there is limited action because it’s a global problem, national and local bodies have very little accountability and incentive to do something about it.
I believe we’re yet to frame the problem. All I know is, we haven’t framed heat as a governance and development failure, not just an environmental one.
You are 100% correct, Nithin.