As global temperatures rise relentlessly, the impending summer season brings a complex web of risks to urban areas across India, transforming them into dangerous hotspots of vulnerability. Most experts and weather agencies, including the India Meteorological Department (IMD), anticipate that 2026 could be one of the hottest years on record for India. Forecasts point to an above-normal summer and an increased frequency of heatwave days from March to May, exacerbated by ongoing global warming and developing climate patterns such as a potential El Niño.
Between 2000 and 2020, while the National Crime Records Bureau reports 20,615 deaths, other government bodies provide different figures for the same period due to varying definitions and reporting methods. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) listed 17,767 heatwave-related deaths, and the IMD recorded 10,545 deaths. Nevertheless, some experts say that even a single day of extreme heat can increase mortality by 10-25 per cent, while prolonged five-day events can raise it by over 30 per cent.
While extreme heat affects the entire subcontinent, the state of Odisha presents a stark and critical case study of how these compounding climatic hazards interact with rapid urbanisation, infrastructure deficits, and socio-economic inequalities.
The story of extreme heat in Odisha is one of historical tragedy and rapidly evolving modern challenges. Since the devastating 1998 ‘Killer Heatwave’ that claimed over 2,500 lives as temperatures soared to a staggering 49.5°C, the state has witnessed a severe escalation in climate anomalies. This trend is accelerating; in 2024 alone, the state endured 37 heatwave days. Jharsuguda at 40.6 degrees Celsius (°C) recorded the highest day temperature on March 14, six degrees more than normal, making it one of the hottest locations in the country.
As we move through 2026, the impacts of extreme temperatures are drastically reshaping urban infrastructure and public health across the state. Indian cities are inherently vulnerable to the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect, where aggressive construction, concretisation, and declining green cover trap heat, making urban centres significantly hotter than surrounding rural areas.
In Odisha, major urban centres, particularly the twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, are becoming thermal traps. In Bhubaneswar, the loss of natural green cover has been heavily exacerbated by catastrophic events like the 1999 Super Cyclone and Cyclone Fani, fundamentally altering the city’s radiative properties. Recent studies from 2026 highlight a dangerous geographic anomaly in these twin cities: while daytime temperatures have seen some localised cooling, night-time temperatures have risen significantly, with urban areas trapping heat and remaining up to 1.22°C warmer than surrounding rural peripheries. This lack of night-time cooling is deeply hazardous, as it deprives residents of physiological recovery from daytime heat stress.
The health impacts of Odisha’s soaring temperatures are deeply stratified by socioeconomic status. In a 2019 study, in the twin cities, over two-thirds of surveyed residents report having suffered from heat illnesses such as heat exhaustion, cramps, and syncope. However, this vulnerability is distinctly spatial and heavily concentrated in informal settlements.
In slums, housing structures are frequently built with heat-absorbing materials, such as uninsulated corrugated iron or asbestos roofs, which trap heat and offer poor ventilation, drastically increasing indoor temperatures. Furthermore, the presence of outdoor kitchens and the use of solid fuels like in wooden chulhas (increased due to recent gas shortages) add significantly to the ambient heat, making slum residents 25 per cent more vulnerable to heat exposure. To cope, slum dwellers rely on traditional and highly localised adaptation methods, such as covering roofs with straw, frequently wiping floors with water, or consuming traditional torani (rice water). In stark contrast, non-slum populations predominantly rely on air conditioning and albedo (white) roof painting to stay cool.
Across India, the summer heat poses an existential and economic threat to the informal sector, which comprises nearly 82 per cent of the nation’s workforce. Street vendors, construction labourers, delivery riders, and waste pickers endure extreme heat without the safeguards of formal contracts, paid sick leave, or medical insurance.
The macroeconomic impact is staggering. A 2024 report says, between 2001 and 2020, India lost an estimated 259 billion labour hours annually due to extreme heat and humidity, equating to an economic loss of roughly Rs 46 lakh crore. At the microeconomic level, a study of informal workers in Delhi revealed that net earnings were 40 per cent lower on heatwave days compared to non-heatwave days. Earnings are highly sensitive to climatic shifts: a 1°C increase in mean temperature is associated with a 16 per cent decline in net earnings, while a 1°C increase in wet bulb temperature (combining heat and humidity) triggers a nearly 19 per cent decline.
This reduction in earnings is driven by compounding factors. Absenteeism rises by 1 per cent to 2 per cent for every degree rise in temperature. Furthermore, a 1°C increase in temperature raises the probability of sickness in the family by 5 per cent to 7 per cent, causing medical expenditures to increase by 9 per cent to 15 per cent for every degree rise. Workers are also forced into out-of-pocket coping costs, spending their diminished earnings on extra water and ice just to survive the day.
Additionally, the agricultural impact of heatwaves intersects heavily with gender disparities. In districts like Ganjam, extreme heat is amplifying the physical and financial challenges faced by women rice farmers. High temperatures directly stunt paddy growth and reduce seed germination. For women, this creates a gruelling double burden: they endure immense physical strain transplanting crops in the scorching sun, only to return home to demanding, unpaid domestic chores. Tasks such as cooking over firewood in poorly ventilated homes or walking long distances to fetch potable water from drying springs become exponentially more exhausting during heatwaves.
To combat these multifaceted threats, cities must move beyond emergency responses and integrate long-term structural adaptation strategies:
Early Warning Systems: The Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) utilises the SATARK mobile application to provide block-level, location-specific heat alerts and preparedness advisories directly to citizens’ smartphones. The SACHET (National Disaster Alert Portal), operated by the NDMA, is a comprehensive, near real-time, geo-targeted alert system designed to inform citizens about impending natural and human-made disasters. This system has been extensively used by disaster management authorities to issue over 6,899 crore SMS alerts in more than 19 Indian languages during various natural disasters, weather warnings, and cyclonic events.
There is a need to correct the disparity in ex gratia financial assistance to people who die due to sunstroke/heatwave. It is Rs 50,000 in Odisha while in other states like Tamil Nadu and Kerala, it is Rs 4 lakh. Compensation schemes often exclude heat-related illnesses and face challenges like social taboos, delayed post-mortems, and inadequate data collection. Also the process of getting this compensation need to be simplified by not burdening victims’ families and taking help of ASHA/Anganwadis to recommend victims for compensation.
Municipal action plans: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has implemented a comprehensive Heat Wave Action Plan (HAP). This includes establishing Paniya Jala Seva Kendras (water kiosks) across the city, constructing temporary shaded resting areas, enforcing mandatory cool roofs, and strictly rescheduling the working hours for outdoor labourers and public transport to avoid the peak heat of 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM. But apart from the need to adequately finance these HAPs for long-term resilience building or structural urban changes, the health infrastructure needs to be revamped to deal with heat stroke patients and related illnesses.
Nationally, addressing urban heat requires widespread adoption of Cool Roofs and Built-Environment Upgrades, which have been shown to reduce indoor temperatures in informal dwellings by 1°C to 1.5°C during peak summer days. Expanding Nature-Based Solutions (NbS), such as planting trees and restoring urban waterbodies (The Ama Pokhari scheme is a major initiative launched by the Government of Odisha, including in Bhubaneswar, to rejuvenate and transform urban water bodies), is also critical, as vegetation and shade regulate temperatures through evapotranspiration. Finally, policy reforms must protect the informal workforce through shift-work arrangements to avoid peak heat hours, alongside providing social safety nets and medical coverage.
As the 2026 summer approaches, mitigating urban risks in India requires a holistic approach that bridges the gap between urban planning, public health, and labour rights to safeguard the nation’s most vulnerable communities.
Debabrat Patra, Associate Director and Humanitarian Lead, ActionAid Association
The views expressed in this article are individual and do not necessarily reflect that of the organisation or institution
Views expressed are the author’s own and don’t necessarily reflect those of Down To Earth