Extreme heat in Ahmedabad
Where South Asia’s first heat action plan began, and where its results were measured.
Heat type. Dry heat before the monsoon, then humid heat during it.
Heat action plan Heat plan in force
Ahmedabad launched South Asia’s first heat action plan in 2013, after a 2010 heatwave caused an estimated 1,344 excess deaths. An estimated 1,190 deaths a year were later avoided.
Vicious cycles the evidence ties to Ahmedabad
| Cycle | Why here | One action that breaks it |
|---|---|---|
| The overwhelmed-clinic loop | The plan prepared hospitals and warned the public before heat peaked. | Heat action plans |
| The poverty–heat trap | Up to three-quarters of India’s workforce depends on heat-exposed work. | Heat-safe work |
| The invisible-deaths loop | As in most countries, heat deaths are hard to count, which makes the case for prevention harder to see. | Count every heat death |
Who heat hits hardest here
- Workers in heat-exposed jobs
- People in informal settlements
A worked plan to learn from
Ahmedabad’s heat action plan (Ahmedabad, India, 2013 onwards)
Already at work here
- Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, with IIPH Gandhinagar and NRDC
- All India Disaster Mitigation Institute (AIDMI)
- IBISA
- C40 Cities
- Heat Resilience Action (HERA), formerly Climate Resilience for All
Listing does not imply partnership, affiliation or endorsement.
Four questions for Ahmedabad’s heat plan
- Is it funded, with a named owner?
- Does it assess who is most vulnerable, and where they live?
- Does it have legal backing, so departments are required to act?
- Does it count indoor and night-time heat, not only daytime highs?
Official warnings: India Meteorological Department · Today’s heat and the week ahead: beattheheat.asia/#city-ahmedabad
Sources
- Hess et al., Journal of Environmental and Public Health, 2018. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6236972
- World Bank, 2025. worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2025/09/16/bangladesh-faces-health-and-economic-risks-from-rising-temperature-world-bank
- Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, reply in India’s Rajya Sabha, 2024. rsdebate.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/750681/1/PQ_265_06082024_U1693_p358_p362.pdf
- Centre for Policy Research, 2023. cprindia.org/briefsreports/how-is-india-adapting-to-heatwaves-an-assessment-of-heat-action-plans-with-insights-for-transformative-climate-action