Summer is upon us, and as Delhi braces for heatwave conditions, the focus is now on the recently released Heat Action Plan (HAP).
The HAP, released yearly, is a coordinated multi-agency response to protect vulnerable communities, maintain public services, and reduce heat-related illnesses and fatalities during summer.
Newslaundry looked at key measures of the HAP across four sectors – public transport, construction safety, shelter homes, and water supply – and spoke to stakeholders and experts to understand how Delhi has implemented them in the past.
While the HAP includes thoughtful provisions, experts say, poor implementation, the absence of legal backing, dedicated funding, and inter-departmental coordination render it ineffective. With rising heatwave-linked fatalities and increasing climate stress, Delhi’s response remains more on paper than on the ground“Heat is a creeping disaster – unlike floods or earthquakes, it builds slowly and impacts multiple sectors at once. Managing it requires strong coordination across departments and levels of government. The HAP must act as a clear blueprint, with nodal officers and defined responsibilities to ensure a timely, multi-agency response”, said Ishan Kukreti, programme lead at Adaptation and Resilience, Sustainable Future Collaborative – an independent research organisation focused on climate change, energy, and environmental sustainability.
Missing bus sheds, cool roofs, no water at stands
In the HAP, the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) needs to “ensure availability of adequate bus shelters with drinking facilities, and construct shelters/ sheds, bus stands with cool roofs”.
However, according to Lalit Chaudhary, president of DTC Karamchari Ekta Union, a workers' union representing DTC drivers, conductors, home guards, and support workers, said, “None of the measures mentioned are in action. If you look at the sheds on the bus stands, forget about constructing new ones; even the old ones are not repaired. There is no water available at these bus stands. We even face problems related to washrooms”.
Other HAP measures include ensuring buses do not run during peak hours (12-4 pm) when a heatwave is declared, and the repair or maintenance of mechanical and technical systems with towing arrangements on a priority basis. The HAP also directs the DTC to install fans and cooling systems in buses.
“Last summer, we didn’t get any guidelines to stop plying buses [between 12-4 pm]. The frequency of the buses decreases when the staff changes for the next shift. But it is not because of the summer,” said Chaudhary.
Chaudhary told Newslaundry that the only relief is that the new buses are fitted with AC. However, the old red or orange buses don’t have fans or air conditioning.
“Even in some old AC buses, the air conditioning does not work. They have closed windows, which makes the inside of the bus even hotter,” he said.
Mithashi Singh, programme manager, Sustainable Habitat Programme, at Centre for Science and Environment, said, “These measures sound good, but how feasible are they? For instance, there is a measure on stopping buses during the daytime, but how will people without personal vehicles commute at a reasonable cost? The implementation direction is not clear”.
A DTC official, on the condition of anonymity, said, “We try to adhere to the guidelines, and repairs are done when necessary”.
Construction, factory workers at risk
Among the vulnerable groups described in the HAP are construction workers, factory workers and other labourers. The labour department must ensure these workers only work from 7 am to 1 pm, and 4 pm to 6 pm.
The HAP also states, “Ensure provision of shelters/ cooling areas, water and supply of emergency medicines like ORS, etc. at work sites by employers and ensure sheds for resting and drinking water facilities for workers at all workplaces. Special care for vulnerable groups, women and old ages”. These are mentioned under Phase 2- during the heat season.
However, Amjad Hassan, the general secretary of Delhi Asangathit Nirman Mazdoor Union, a workers’ union working for labour rights, told Newslaundry, “There is no such provision of halting the work from 1 pm to 4 pm during summers or when a heatwave is declared”.
He added that even if the work is stalled, the workers don’t get paid for that time. Last year, when temperatures in Delhi reached 50 degrees Celsius, Delhi’s lieutenant governor had ordered a paid three-hour break for the workers at construction sites. However, the order was hardly implemented. Newslaundry reported about the same last year.
“Forget cooling sheds, sometimes, there’s not enough water for the workers even in scorching summers, and the sheds available are made of tin, which, instead of providing relief, trap the heat and make it hotter for the workers,” added Hassan.
He underlined that the intervention of the labour department in the implementation of these policies is important. Last year, Delhi’s labour department released a Heat Wave Circular emphasising the need for water and coolers on work sites. But Hassan said, “There is sometimes just one bulb in labour camps and no fans.”
Portable tin shelter homes with no fans
At least 192 homeless people died in Delhi over nine days due to extreme heat last June, according to a report released last year by the non-profit Centre for Holistic Development. Economically weaker sections are described as vulnerable groups in the HAP.
The HAP mandates the identification and construction of shelter locations for the urban poor and slum dwellers. Further, it also includes a “pilot project on roof painting with white colour – cool roof and or distribution of gunny bags for putting on the tin roofs/asbestos in slums.”
But according to Aishwarya Ayushmaan, programmes lead at Housing and Land Rights Network, an organisation working to help marginalised people avail their right to adequate housing and land, “No such actions as far as I know have been implemented. Even if poor people want to paint their roofs white, will the government give them the money? They face the risk of demolition and would not want to make that kind of investment when that risk is involved”.
The provision for the homeless is that “night shelters stay open all day for the migratory population during a heat alert”. Ayushman said some of these shelters are portable cabins made of tin roofs and do not work well in summer.
Abhishek Bajpai, president of the Delhi Shelter Homes Workers Union agreed with Ayushmaan. “There are nearly 103 portable cabin shelters which have tin roofs, and the cabins become hotter because of them. There are many shelter homes with few to no fans and exhaust fans,” he said.
Bajpai also emphasised that the total capacity of the shelters, as mentioned on the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) site, is 19,794 people. “These shelters are not filled to their full capacity, because of a lack of even basic amenities like fans. The roofs of these shelters have not been painted white or with heat-reflective paint,” he added.
Kukreti said, “The HAP is appropriate in its vulnerability exercise, which is done to identify vulnerable areas and people, but the implementation is not sufficient.”
Missed green goals, perennial water shortage
The HAP also focuses on promoting green and heat-resilient infrastructure, such as enhancing natural shading, creating green spaces, and increasing forest and green cover. The departments responsible for implementing this include the forest department, public works department, irrigation and flood control Department, Municipal Corporation of Delhi, New Delhi Municipal Council, Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board, and Delhi Development Authority.
On June 26, 2024, in response to the severe heatwave, the Supreme Court directed the Delhi Government and the DDA to take effective steps to expand green cover across the national capital. According to the Green Action Plan for 2024-25, except for PWD and NDMC, none of the agencies achieved their annual targets allotted. MCD completed just 49 percent of the target. While DDA and I&FC achieved zero percent.
Another recurring summer crisis in Delhi is water shortage – something the HAP attempts to address by mandating that the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) ensure adequate water storage and restore water bodies. But the data paints a grim picture.
In a report presented to the National Green Tribunal in August last year, only 43 water bodies were found on the ground, compared to 322 identified through satellite imagery. According to a Delhi Parks and Garden Society list, out of 1,045 water bodies, 631 were prioritised for rejuvenation in Phase I. Of these, 179 were either dry or in poor condition, and many entries lacked sufficient data, rendering them inconclusive.
When temperatures soared to 50 degrees Celsius last year, the then water minister Atishi appealed to residents to conserve water and imposed a Rs 2,000 fine for wastage. The DJB had aimed to supply 1,000 million gallons per day (MGD) under its summer action plan. However, the Delhi Economic Survey 2023–24 reported the city’s actual daily water demand as 1,290 MGD, revealing a substantial supply gap.
One HAP measure also promises water tankers for slums on orange or red alert heatwave days. Yet, many areas still report severe water distress.
“Slum dwellers in places like Shakur Basti continue to struggle for water during summers,” said Ayushmaan.
Delhi water minister Parvesh Verma launched a new Summer Action Plan in 2025 in March, focusing on improved distribution, curbing illegal connections, better sewer management, and stricter oversight.
The new HAP mandates that all hospitals must report cases of heat-related illnesses (HRIs). It also directs the health department to ensure storage of oral rehydration solutions or ORS and cool packs, and readiness to manage heatstroke at health facilities. But a 2024 “Heat-Related Illness Preparedness Survey” by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare found that only 19 percent of 70 Delhi health centres were even minimally prepared to provide active cooling.
Weak enforcement, funding gaps
A major structural flaw in the HAP, according to experts, is the lack of dedicated funding.
“Heat is not among the 12 officially notified disasters, which makes it difficult for states to access disaster management funds – unless it’s declared a local disaster,” said Ishan Kukreti. While a September 2024 update allows mitigation funding without formal disaster declarations, most interventions still focus on short-term relief. Long-term resilience demands more consistent financial support.
Because heat isn’t officially classified as a disaster, Delhi cannot draw from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF). Ironically, while the SDRF allocation in the Delhi 2025-26 Budget increased from Rs 300 lakh in 2024–25 to Rs 2,500 lakh in 2025–26, those funds remain largely out of reach for heat mitigation.
Another pressing concern is the absence of a legal mechanism to enforce the plan. “There are good measures in the HAP, but without legal authority and dedicated funding, it's just a loose set of suggestions,” Kukreti noted.
Sustainable Habitat Programme’s Mithashi Singh echoed the sentiment: “Ideas like cool roofs are viable, but without enforcement, who ensures implementation?” She added, “The plan has no teeth. It lacks a central anchor.”
Both experts underscored the need for a coordinating authority – something akin to the CAAQMS (Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring System) used for air pollution. “Heat response needs a clear command structure,” Singh said.
In a study released last month, Sustainable Future Collaborative analysed the HAP of nine Indian cities, including Delhi. The study finds that cities are much less likely to implement long-term actions that can be implemented now to reduce future heat risk in these cities. Many long-term actions, like tree planting and infrastructure upgrades, are not targeted at the most heat-vulnerable areas, making their impact on heat resilience limited and uneven.
While the actions in HAP contribute to overall climate adaptation, they miss the opportunity to directly address extreme heat. In most cities studied, tree planting wasn’t guided by heat vulnerability assessments, and dense slum areas posed challenges due to a lack of space. Key long-term measures like income insurance for lost work hours, electricity grid upgrades for rising cooling needs, and equitable access to cooling remain largely absent.
Newslaundry contacted the health department, transport department, labour department, DDA, NDMC, DUSIB and DJB for comments. This copy will be updated if they respond.
Reports like these take time and resources. Help us tell more stories that are in public interest. Subscribe today.
Newslaundry is a reader-supported, ad-free, independent news outlet based out of New Delhi. Support their journalism, here.
