Addressing vulnerability to the health risks of extreme heat in urbanising Ahmedabad, India

The document details the creation of the first comprehensive Heat Action Plan in South Asia, implemented by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) in 2013. The plan focuses on an early warning system, public awareness, and healthcare capacity building to protect vulnerable populations from heat-related morbidity and mortality.

• Ahmedabad implemented the first comprehensive Heat Action Plan in South Asia in 2013, designed to build resilience and protect residents, particularly the most vulnerable, from heat-related illness and death.
• The Heat Action Plan is built on three primary strategic activities: establishing a simple early warning system to coordinate interagency responses, conducting public awareness and community outreach, and building the capacity of healthcare professionals to diagnose and treat heat-related illnesses.
• A vulnerability assessment of 300 slum households (approximately 1,650 individuals) identified that age, chronic disease, and working conditions significantly increase susceptibility to heat. Specifically, for every five years a slum resident ages, the odds of experiencing heat-related symptoms or illnesses increase by more than 20%.
• The plan established a formal internal communication tree led by a 'nodal officer' in the AMC health department to ensure that temperature forecasts are systematically translated into heat alerts for government agencies, hospitals, and the public.
• Public outreach efforts for the 2013 season included the distribution of 6,000 pamphlets in English and Gujarati, the placement of 10 billboards, and the use of banners on buses and rickshaws to reach illiterate populations through visuals.
• Key barriers to the plan's success included a lack of initial recognition of heat waves as disasters among officials and the public, difficulties in collecting temperature and mortality data, and limited budgets and time.

APA

Shah, T., Mavalankar, D., Jaiswal, A., & Connolly, M. (2015). Addressing vulnerability to the health risks of extreme heat in urbanising Ahmedabad, India. Climate and Development Knowledge Network. http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/CDKN-Ahmedabad-Paper.pdf

Chicago

Shah, Tejas, Dileep Mavalankar, Anjali Jaiswal, and Meredith Connolly. Addressing vulnerability to the health risks of extreme heat in urbanising Ahmedabad, India. Climate and Development Knowledge Network, 2015. http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/CDKN-Ahmedabad-Paper.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Shah |first1=Tejas |last2=Mavalankar |first2=Dileep |last3=Jaiswal |first3=Anjali |last4=Connolly |first4=Meredith |title=Addressing vulnerability to the health risks of extreme heat in urbanising Ahmedabad, India |publisher=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |date=March 2015 |url=http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/CDKN-Ahmedabad-Paper.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{shah2015addressing, author = {Shah, Tejas and Mavalankar, Dileep and Jaiswal, Anjali and Connolly, Meredith}, title = {{Addressing vulnerability to the health risks of extreme heat in urbanising Ahmedabad, India}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2015}, month = mar, url = {http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/CDKN-Ahmedabad-Paper.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }