Editorial 1: ​It is time to protect India’s workers from the heat

Context

Millions of informal urban workers in India suffer due to flawed Heat Action Plans.

Introduction

In the first week of April 2025, Delhi hit a dangerous mark as temperatures rose above 41°C, and nights stayed hot. These extreme conditions are now the new normal. With climate change getting worse each year, Indian cities are at the center of a growing crisis.

• Heatwaves affect all, but urban informal workers bear the worst impact.
• In 2024, the RBI warned that extreme heat endangers health and livelihoods, risking a 4.5% GDP loss.
• Despite their essential roles and large numbers, these workers are excluded from urban heat response plans.
• This exclusion leads to deadly consequences.

Key challenges in current Heat Action Plans

• Many Indian cities have adopted Heat Action Plans (HAPs), inspired by Ahmedabad’s pioneering model.
• These plans are guided by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to handle frequent and intense heatwaves.
• Over a decade later, most HAPs remain perfunctory, underfunded, and poorly coordinated.
• A review reveals informal workers are largely excluded or vaguely referenced (as “outdoor workers” or “vulnerable groups”).
• Most HAPs treat heatwaves as short-term disasters, not symptoms of a deeper climate crisis.
• At the State level, HAPs lack protocols for occupational safety, hydration, cooling spaces, shade, or compensation for lost work.
• City-level HAPs focus on public health and awareness, neglecting livelihood impacts.
• Governance remains fragmented; ministries like Labour, Environment, Urban Affairs, and Health operate in silos without central coordination.
• Most city HAPs are crisis documents for summer months and lack long-term strategies such as urban cooling, heat-resilient infrastructure, or worker protections.

International and Indian Best Practices for Worker Protection

Key Elements for a Worker-Centric Urban Heat Response

• A new urban heat response is urgently needed — worker-centred, just, and rooted in lived realities.
• NDMA’s 2019 Heat Guidelines must be updated to explicitly include informal workers.
• Framework should map occupational vulnerabilities for diverse groups:
  • Construction workers, street vendors, waste pickers, gig workers, rickshaw pullers
• Include actionable protocols:
  • Safe working hours, mandatory rest breaks, water access, emergency response mechanisms
• Worker participation in HAPs must be mandated at city and State levels.
• Top-down planning must shift to co-creation with:
  • Worker collectives, unions, welfare boards, civil society, community groups
• Recognize workers’ right to shade, rest, and cooling in public and workspaces.
• Develop shaded rest zones, hydration points, and cooling centres in:
  • Markets, transport hubs, labour chowks, construction sites, public buildings
• Ensure these are accessible, gender-sensitive, and co-managed by workers and communities.
• Institutionalise protections via norms, guidelines, and dedicated budgets.
• Enable innovative financing:
  • Use CSR funds, city budgets, and health insurance expansion for heat-related illnesses
• Promote community contributions in action plans.
• Scale up cool roofs, shaded walkways, and passive ventilation from pilots to standard practices.

Recommended Action Areas

As a part of city design and governance

• Embed heat resilience and worker safety into city design and governance.
• Integrate climate adaptation and worker inclusion into:
  • Master plans, building bye-laws, infrastructure codes
• Promote natural shade through:
  • Urban forests, tree corridors
• Plan blue networks including:
  • Water bodies, public resting spaces
• Retrofit informal workspaces (e.g., vendor markets, waste depots, labour chowks) for thermal comfort using climate-resilient materials and design.

National Coordination and Institutional Mechanisms

• Establish an inter-ministerial task force on climate and work at the national level.
• Include ministries:
  • Labour and Employment
  • Housing and Urban Affairs
  • Environment, Forest and Climate Change
  • Health and Family Welfare
  • NDMA and State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs)
• Develop an integrated road map linking:
  • Climate resilience, worker protection, and labour codes
• The task force must:
  • Guide cities, coordinate inter-agency efforts, and ensure accountability
• Appoint a dedicated heat officer in every city and district to:
  • Monitor heat response, manage implementation, and work across departments

Institutional and Governance Interventions

Conclusion

For informal workers, the climate crisis is not a future problem — it is a daily reality. The cost of doing nothing is no longer just about rising temperatures — it is about lost lives, lost livelihoods, poor health, and uncertain futures.