In mid-May 2022, the temperature in New Delhi exceeded 49°C, a historic record for the Indian capital. In recent weeks, northern India and Pakistan have been experiencing early and repeated heat waves that have become increasingly dangerous to health, particularly for the millions of people working outdoors or babies running around the clock. Risk of fatal dehydration. Ahmedabad in northeastern India is one of the hottest cities in the country.
Chandrika Navinbhai Parmar threads a pink thread through the narrow thimble of the sewing machine, turns off the mechanism and tries to finish making a blouse. It’s only noon, but this young woman is already feeling nauseous from the heat. The thermometer shows a temperature of over 45°C on the streets of Ahmedabad’s working-class neighborhood, and it’s slightly cooler inside his tiny house, where the ceiling fan blows warm air.
“These days I can only work in the morning or after 5 pm,” he says. “This reduces my income.” Chandrika lives with nine of her relatives in this 20 square meter apartment in Bhagwati Nagar, on the eastern outskirts of Ahmedabad.
The walls are made of brick and cement and the ceiling is made of asbestos sheets, does it only have a small window? and yet without ventilation. “Our three children are getting sick all the time from this heat… They’re vomiting and diarrhoea,” she says in a worried voice as she watches her sister in the crib. “Just this morning, the one-and-a-half-year-old went to the bathroom five times. We need to give him medication to get well,” she explains.
4°C warming by the end of the century
On May 11, weather services recorded 45.8°C in this city in northwest India, the hottest May in six years. A few days later, New Delhi also suffered from 49°C heat. A historic record for the capital.
The entire northern part of India was hit by the early and extreme heatwave. March was the hottest month in modern Indian history, with average temperatures 1.6°C above normal.
In this densely populated and landlocked region, the reality of global warming is sharpening. And it’s only just begun: A report on climate change by the Indian Ministry of Earth Sciences released last year warns that the country could be 4.4°C warmer in 2100 than the 1976-2005 average. twice as often and much longer. This equates to a temperature rise four times faster than in the 20th century.
In a country where less than one in five people have access to air conditioning, this extreme heat is literally killing people.
‘Cooled Roofs’
In 2010, 1,344 people died in Ahmedabad due to the effects of the extreme heat wave that hit the town on the border of the Thar Desert. The municipality responded and became the first in India to implement a heat action plan in 2013.
This plan strengthens coordination between meteorological services, municipality and health services to better inform and care for the most vulnerable populations, namely the elderly and newborns. However, it does not foresee any adjustments in low-income housing and slums, which suffer most during the summer months. These neighborhoods are home to nearly two million people, or more than a quarter of Ahmedabad’s population.
This adaptation work is mainly carried out by the Mahila Housing Sewa Trust, which develops “chilled roof” techniques. Surekha Chaurasia Poonambhai lives, cooks and works in her parents’ home in a windowed room in the Bhagwati Nagar district. For the last two years, the asbestos ceiling has been painted with a special white paint that reflects the sun.
“It used to be as high as 45°C inland. Now it’s 42°C max during the day,” he says, pointing to an electronic thermometer. He still takes a break during the hottest hours, but now he’s “working another two hours,” he says happily. “I no longer suffer from vomiting and diarrhea.”
Covering a 10 m² roof like his with two coats of this special paint is around Rs 2,500 (R$155), which is usually too high for families, so it’s paid for by the NGO. For optimum effectiveness, the roof should be cleaned regularly and the paint should be renewed every two years. This is the simplest and most common cooling technique, and according to independent scientific research, it lowers the average temperature by 1.1°C compared to a traditional tin roof.
Build better to use less air conditioner
More efficient but more expensive is the “modular roof”, which consists of a thick layer of insulating organic waste and packaging sandwiched between two sheets. Compared to the same study, this technique lowers the internal temperature by an average of 4.5°C and costs approximately ? 1,700 (approximately BRL 8,700).
The Parmar family borrowed this amount from the cooperative loan of Mahila Housing Sewa Trust to cover their first floor terrace. Shading it this way, the temperature has dropped ten degrees in this area alone, and it also cools the downstairs living room. Another advantage of this technique is that the roof can be easily dismantled and dismantled, which is very attractive to people who are afraid of being evicted from their homes in illegal slums.
The NGO has helped more than 6,800 low-income families in northern India cool their homes in an effort that won the Ashden Prize at the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow in November 2021.
Ahmedabad municipality is now planning to paint some roofs in these areas with reflective paint. But for Bhavana Maheriya, climate change program manager at Mahila Housing Sewa Trust, the government needs to build better.
“The municipality has embarked on a major project to house slum dwellers in large eight-story towers,” says Maheriya, “but these buildings don’t account for heat. Builders need to build better, paint them with reflective paint, lay solar panels or each to create shade. restoration of traditional techniques, such as the visor, which places a small roof over the window.
source: Noticias
