Nagpur: A single ‘Heat Action Plan’ is being prepared at the national level and it will be included in the current action plan to fight heatstroke. Interestingly, the ‘Heat Action Plan’ for the cities of the country has been prepared after studying the temperature in various parts of Nagpur.
Dr. Rajshree Kotharkar of VNIT Department of Architecture has prepared a ‘draft model’ and it will be handed over to the National Disaster Management Authority. Currently, each State has a separate heat action plan. It is also implemented in Maharashtra. But this heat action plan is not long-term. At present, the limitation of the ‘Heat Action Plan’ is to open water kiosks at various places. But by working more on this, the ‘Heat Action Plan’ should be the same for other cities in the country, the National Disaster Management Authority has assigned this responsibility to Dr. Rajshree Kotharkar of the Department of Architecture in VNIT, Nagpur.
She has been working on it for the past ten years. The temperature in Nagpur is being studied for the last ten years for a long-term heat action plan in the country. The temperature of different parts of the city was studied. The draft was prepared by studying which areas have high and low temperatures, what is the effect of this temperature on people, what is the effect on the residents of areas with tall buildings and areas with trees. Apart from this, worldwide hit action plans were also studied. The measures are suggested according to the local environment, said Dr Rajshree Kotharkar.
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Wednesday 15 Jan. 2025
Recently, a workshop was also conducted in this regard in the first week of February. Along with the officials of the National Disaster Management Authority, Chandrapur, Bhandara, Gondia District Disaster Management Officers of Vidarbha were present in this workshop. In this workshop, the draft model was shown and what can be done for implementation was also discussed. The heat action plan will soon be handed over to the National Disaster Management Authority.
It may be recalled that recently the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) officials took stock of the Heat Action Plan in the month of February itself as the temperature in Nagpur is rising alarmingly. Already, February recorded its highest temperature, giving indications of a searing summer ahead and hence, Municipal Commissioner and Administrator Radhakrishnan B took stock of the NMC’s preparedness.
NMC has already finalised the Heat Action Plan and the Municipal Commissioner was briefed by officials of the Medical Health Department as to measures they are going to take to tackle cases of heat stroke and other outbreaks recorded during the summer season. The officials were instructed to chalk out plans for cooperation with other departments to avoid any last minute rush. During the summer, as per the plan, the gardens are to be kept open throughout the day. As per practice, the gardens are kept closed during afternoon hours for maintenance purposes. However, during the rise in temperature, gardens can provide solace to citizens from the searing heat.
