Lok Sabha Question No. 465 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-06
Subject: Impact of Heat Waves
Ministry: EARTH SCIENCES
Asked by: Ravneet Singh

## MINISTRY OF EARTH SCIENCES

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 465 TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, 6 TH  DECEMBER, 2023

## IMPACT OF HEAT WAVES

## 465.     SHRI RAVNEET SINGH BITTU:

Will the Minister of EARTH SCIENCES be pleased to state:

- (a) whether it is a fact that India figures at the top in the list of populations which experienced elevated temperatures, especially heatwaves, for five days or more during the last one year;
- (b) if so, the details thereof along with the reasons therefor;
- (c) whether the Government has done any assessment on the potential impact of these persistent heat waves and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether the Government is taking any measures to bring down the incidence of long spells of elevated temperatures, especially heat waves in the country; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## THE MINISTER OF EARTH SCIENCES

## ANSWER (SHRI KIREN RIJIJU)

- (a)-(b)  Being a tropical country, India is prone to heat  wave conditions. In general, the north and central India and north peninsular India experience heatwave during March to June of every year.Normally  4-8  days  of  heat  wave  conditions  prevail  over  these  areas  in  the  summer season.These statistics  are based  on  the data  for the period of 1961-2020. However, some areas covering Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, West Rajasthan, East Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar  Pradesh,  Bihar,  Jharkhand,  Chhattisgarh,  Vidarbha,  Odisha,  Telangana  and  Andhra Pradesh experience more than 8 days of heat wave conditions in a year.The meteorological sub-divisions  that  experienced  the  most  number  of  heatwave  days  during  the  season  of March-June  2023  are  Gangetic  West  Bengal,  Bihar,  Coastal  Andhra  Pradesh  &  Yanam, Odisha with 34, 31, 21 and 18 days respectively.
- (c) It  is  a  fact  that,  annual  temperature  is  increasing  globally  and  the  impact  of  the  same  is reflected  in  the  increase  in  heat  waves  in  various  parts  of  the  globe  including  India.  IMD issues  forecasts  and  warnings  related  to  severe  weather  events  including  heat  waves  in different  spatial  and  temporal  scales  and  share  the  same  with  public  as  well  as  disaster management  authorities  so  as  to  initiate  required  mitigation  measures.  Also,  IMD  started issuing Impact Based Forecast (IBF) recently which give details of what the weather will do rather  than  what  the  weather  will  be.  It  contains  the  details  of  impacts  expected  from  the severe weather elements and guidelines to general public about do's and don'ts while getting exposed to severe weather.
- (d)-(e)  IMD  has  taken  up  various  steps  to  improve  monitoring  and  timely  early  warning  which helped minimizing loss of life and property. These include:
- i. Introduction of seasonal, monthly, and extended-range forecasts of temperature, and heat wave condition
- ii. Impact based forecast of heat wave condition at district levels
- iii. Heat  wave  vulnerability  Atlas  over  India  to  help  State  Government  authorities  and disaster management agencies in planning and taking appropriate action
- iv. The hot weather hazard analysis over India that includes daily temperature, winds, and humidity condition
- v. Heat index forecast for the entire country
- vi. Real time heat wave information and warnings on the Web-GIS platform
- vii. Heat  Action  Plans  (HAPs)  in  23  States  jointly  implemented  by  National  Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in collaboration with the State Governments
- viii. Improvement of warning dissemination services; using modern tools of dissemination systems for timely public outreach

*******