Daily Prelims Notes 18 April 2024

April 18, 2024
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

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Daily Prelims Notes

18 April 2024

Table Of Contents

1. Yamuna River

Subject: Geography

Sec: Indian geography

Source and Early Course:

The Yamuna River originates from the Yamunotri Glacier in the Mussourie range of the lower Himalayas, at an elevation of about 6,387 meters.
It flows from north of Haridwar, and its initial 170 km stretch is marked by tributaries like Rishi Ganga Kunta, Hanuman Ganga, Tons, and Giri.
The Tons River, the largest tributary of the Yamuna, features notable biodiversity and conservation areas such as the Har-ki-Dun Valley and Gobind Pashu Vihar Sanctuary.
The Yamunotri temple, associated with the river’s source, was originally built in the late 19th century and has undergone several reconstructions.

Geographical Journey:

The river travels through valleys for about 200 km in the lower Himalayas before entering the Indo-Gangetic plains.
It is tapped at Dak Pathar in Uttarakhand for power generation, after which it flows through significant locations like Poanta Sahib and Hathnikund.

Segments of the River:

Himalayan Segment: From origin to Tajewala Barrage (172 km)
Upper Segment: Tajewala Barrage to Wazirabad Barrage (224 km)
Delhi Segment: Wazirabad Barrage to Okhla Barrage (22 km)
Eutrophicated Segment: Okhla Barrage to Chambal Confluence (490 km)
Diluted Segment: Chambal Confluence to Ganga Confluence (468 km)

Environmental Challenges:

Beyond the Wazirabad Barrage, the river sustains itself mainly on untreated or partially treated domestic and industrial wastewater.
Water flow management is tightly controlled, especially in dry seasons, as per Supreme Court orders, affecting the natural flow and ecological conditions of the river.

Ecological Significance:

The river hosts diverse ecosystems and is crucial for the biodiversity of the region, including being a frontier for the Indian elephant in the Western Himalayas.
Efforts to conserve and manage its catchment areas cover multiple states including Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Delhi.
The Yamuna, a major tributary of the Ganges, demonstrates significant cultural, ecological, and environmental importance, but also faces substantial challenges due to human impact and seasonal variability in water flow.

Tributaries of River Yamuna

Tons River: The longest tributary of the Yamuna, originating at 3,900 meters above sea level near the Bander Punch Glacier.
- It flows through the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand and joins the Yamuna near Kalsi, Dehradun.
Giri River: Originates near Jubbal town, Shimla, and flows through the southeastern part of Himachal Pradesh.
- Divides the Sirmaur district into Cis-Giri and Trans-Giri regions, joining the Yamuna upstream of Paonta.
Hindon River: Flows between the Ganga and Yamuna rivers, originating from the upper Shiwalik.
- It is a rain-fed river covering a catchment area of 7,083 sq. km and stretching approximately 400 km.
Betwa River: Rises in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, and flows 590 km to join the Yamuna near Hamirpur, Uttar Pradesh.
- Its basin is primarily in Madhya Pradesh (68.64%) and Uttar Pradesh (31.36%).
Dhasan River: A right bank tributary of the Betwa, originating in Raisen district, Madhya Pradesh.
- It forms the southeastern boundary of Lalitpur, Uttar Pradesh, covering a total length of 365 km.
Ken River: Flows through Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, originating near Jabalpur.
- Joins the Yamuna near Chilla village, Uttar Pradesh, with a total length of 427 km.
Sind River: One of the second largest right bank tributaries of the Yamuna, originating in Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh.
- Flows northeast for 415 km before joining the Yamuna upstream of Auraiya.
Chambal River: The largest tributary of the Yamuna, originating near Mhow, Madhya Pradesh.
- Flows through Rajasthan and forms part of the boundary with Uttar Pradesh before joining the Yamuna.
- Known for its historical name, Charmanvati, and a significant drainage area that includes parts of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.
Tributaries of Chambal River:
- Kali Sindh: Originates in the Vindhya Hills and joins Chambal near Nonera, Rajasthan.
- Parwan River: Flows from the Malwa Plateau to join Kali Sindh near Ramgarh, Rajasthan.
- Parwati River: Begins in the Vindhyan hills, forms a boundary between Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, and joins the Chambal near Pali.
- Banas River: Originates in the Aravali range, flows through Rajasthan, and joins the Chambal near Rameshwar.

Source: Indiawris

2. NASA Mars sample return program is expensive and will take too long

Subject: Geography

Sec: Indian geography

Context:

In response to budget cuts and escalating costs, Nasa is reevaluating its ambitious Mars sample return mission aiming to develop a more feasible and cost-effective approach.

More on news:

NASA’s Perseverance Rover, nicknamed Percy, in 2023 created the first sample depot on another world by putting down ten rock sample tubes that are slated to be returned to Earth as part of the Mars Sample Return Campaign.
One problem is that the plan is too expensive and will only be executed by the year 2040.
The space agency is working with internal offices to develop a new plan based on innovative and proven technology.
It is also soliciting architectural proposals from the industry to return samples in the 2030s along with lowering cost, risk and mission complexity.
An independent review of the return program conducted last year referred to it as a highly constrained and challenging campaign that had unrealistic budget and schedule expectations from the beginning.

About Mars Sample Return (MSR):

Mars Sample Return (MSR) would be NASA’s and ESA’s (European Space Agency) ambitious, multi-mission campaign to bring carefully selected samples to Earth.
MSR would fulfill one of the highest priority solar system exploration goals from the science community.
Returned samples would revolutionize our understanding of Mars, our solar system and prepare for human explorers to the Red Planet.

Other plans of NASA and ESA:

According to the current plan, both NASA and the European Space Agency are meant to work together on the first effort to bring something back from Mars.
ESA’s fetch rover is supposed to take the samples collected by Perseverance and take them to a NASA-provided Mars ascent vehicle which will then launch into Mars’s orbit.
An Earth Return Orbiter will take these samples from the ascent vehicle and bring them back to our planet.

3. Ahead of Elon Musk visit, Finance Ministry notifies new rules backing FDI tweaks for space sector

Subject: Science and tech

Sec: Space sector

Context:

The Finance Ministry has notified amended rules under the Foreign Exchange Management Act to operationalise its earlier decision to allow up to 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) for the space sector through three categories of liberalized entry routes.

More on news:

The notification dated April 16 comes ahead of Tesla chief Elon Musk’s visit to India early next week where he is expected to meet space startups, make a push for his space venture Starlink’s plans and announce his electric vehicle (EV) investment plans.

About Starlink:

Starlink is a project by SpaceX, the company founded by Musk, to provide high-speed internet access to anywhere on the planet using a constellation of thousands of low-earth-orbit satellites.

100% FDI for manufacturing, operation of satellites:

As per the latest Finance Ministry notification, 100 percent FDI has been allowed for the space sector category of manufacturing and operation of satellites, satellite data products, and ground segment and user segment, out of which up to 74 per cent would be through the automatic route and government nod would be required for investment beyond 74 per cent.
Under the earlier policy, any foreign investment in manufacturing and operating satellites is allowed only with government approval.
Automatic FDI has also been permitted up to 49 per cent for launch vehicles and associated systems or subsystems, and creation of spaceports for launching and receiving spacecraft.
Government approval would be required for investments beyond 49 per cent.
Manufacturing of components and systems or sub-systems for satellites, ground segment and user segment will be fully under the 100 per cent automatic route.
The investee entity shall be subject to sectoral guidelines as issued by the Department of Space from time to time.
The new rules came into effect from April 16.

About Satellites – manufacturing and operation:

Satellites – manufacturing and operation has been defined as end-to-end manufacturing and supply of satellite or payload, establishing the satellite systems including control of in-orbit operations of the satellite and payloads.

About Satellite data products:

Satellite data products have been defined as reception, generation or dissemination of earth observation or remote sensing satellite data and data products including Application Interfaces (API).

About Ground segment:

Ground segment refers to the supply of satellite transmit or receive earth stations including earth observation data receive station, gateway, teleports, satellite telemetry, Tracking and Command (TTC) station, and Satellite Control Centre (SCC) etc..
User segment refers to the supply of user ground terminals for communicating with the satellite, which are not covered under the ground segment.

About launch vehicles and associated systems or subsystems:

The ministry has also defined “launch vehicles and associated systems or subsystems” as a vehicle and its stages or components that is designed to operate in or place spacecraft with payloads or persons, in a sub-orbital trajectory, or earth orbit or outer space.
Spaceport refers to the base from which spacecraft are launched, and consists of facilities involving devices for transportation to, from and via outer space.
Space activities largely encompass the launch vehicle and launch service, the satellite, ground stations that can detect the signals, and user products where the data from satellites is utilized.

4. What’s behind heavy rainfall in Dubai

Subject: Geography

Sec: Climatology

Context:

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) recorded the heaviest rain ever after a severe thunderstorm hit the country on Monday, killing at least one person, causing damage to homes and businesses, and bringing air travel to a standstill in Dubai.

More on news:

Heavy rains are unusual in the UAE, which is an arid, Arabian Peninsula country.
However, they occasionally occur in the region during cooler winter months.

What happened in Dubai?

The thunderstorms began on Monday night and by Tuesday evening had dumped more than 142 millimeters (mm) of rain onto the desert city of Dubai.
An average year sees 94.7 millimeters of rain at Dubai International Airport — the world’s second busiest airport, which recorded more than 80 million visitors in 2023.
The city of Al Ain, which is nearly 130 kilometers (km) away from Dubai, witnessed a record rainfall of 254 mm.
Fujairah, located on the UAE’s eastern coast, saw 145 mm of rain on Tuesday.

What led to the heavy rains in Dubai?

The primary reason for these heavy rains was a storm system, which was passing through the Arabian peninsula and moving across the Gulf of Oman.
Rains could have been exacerbated by cloud seeding, a process of spraying salt mixtures in clouds that would result in condensation of the cloud and eventually cause rainfall.

Is climate change responsible for the event?

Some experts have suggested that the soaring global temperatures could also be behind the event. Higher temperatures cause evaporation of water not only from land but also oceans and other water bodies, meaning a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture.
Studies have found that for every 1 degree Celsius rise in average temperature, the atmosphere can hold about 7% more moisture.
This makes storms more dangerous as it leads to an increase in precipitation intensity, duration and/or frequency, which ultimately can cause severe flooding.
Studies based in India’s Thar desert and Australia’s desert regions have shown that climate change could lead to more rainfall in these areas.
While the average global temperature on the Earth has increased by at least 1.1 degree Celsius since 1850, the UAE has witnessed an increase of almost 1.5 degree Celsius in the past 60 years.
The increase in temperatures is mainly caused by the rise of heat-trapping greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions since the Industrial Revolution.
It is extremely difficult to attribute any particular extreme weather event to climate change.
It is because there are multiple factors, like patterns of natural climate variability, such as El Niño and La Niña, that contribute to such events.

What is cloud seeding?

Cloud seeding involves injecting clouds with substances like silver iodide, potassium iodide, or sodium chloride to accelerate cloud microphysical processes.
These substances serve as nuclei around which cloud droplets can form.
The process aims to create larger droplets that can reach the Earth’s surface without evaporating.
Different salts are used to provide cloud condensation nuclei and ice nuclei, essential for forming cloud droplets and ice crystals, respectively.
Cloud seeding is intended to enhance precipitation by promoting the growth of droplets and increasing the likelihood of rainfall.

5. Russian troops start to withdraw from Nagorno-Karabakh

Subject: IR

Sec: Places in news

Context:

Russian peacekeepers have started withdrawing from Nagorno-Karabakh following the territory’s recapture by Azerbaijan from Armenian separatists.
The withdrawal follows a 2020 Moscow-brokered ceasefire between Azerbaijan (Baku) and Armenia (Yerevan).

About the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict:

Nagorno-Karabakh (also known as Artsakh by Armenians) is a mountainous region in the Caucasus, internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but predominantly inhabited by ethnic Armenians.
It has an unrecognised government with close ties to Armenia.
The conflict started in the late 1980s when the region declared independence from Azerbaijan amid the Soviet Union’s collapse.
A war ensued, ending in a 1994 ceasefire with Nagorno-Karabakh and some surrounding areas under Armenian control.
Despite the ceasefire, violations were frequent, and peace negotiations often failed.
In 2020, Azerbaijan regained significant territory in the Second Karabakh War.
A peace deal was brokered by Russia in 2020, leading to the deployment of Russian peacekeepers in the region.

Azerbaijan:

A country located in Asia, bordered by Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Iran, with the Caspian Sea to the east.
Its landscape features the Caucasus Mountains covering much of the north and west.
Baku is the capital city.
The nation is rich in oil and natural gas resources. A notable attraction is Yanar Dag, where natural gas seepages have fueled a continuous fire for over 65 years, earning Azerbaijan the nickname “The Land of Fire.”

Armenia:

A landlocked country in the Caucasus with Turkey to the west, Georgia to the north, and Azerbaijan to the east.
Capital: Yerevan.
Armenia is a mountainous country.
Highest Peak: Mount Ararat.

Source: TH

6. How can small-scale farmers benefit from trees on farms?

Subject: Schemes

Sec: Env

Agroforestry:

Agriculture in India, traditionally involving a mix of crops, trees, and livestock known as agroforestry, is gaining popularity after years dominated by monocropping due to the Green Revolution.
Agroforestry, which can improve both farmer livelihoods and environmental conditions, saw renewed interest with the National Agroforestry Policy introduced in 2014, supported by four decades of research investment.
Despite its benefits, agroforestry adoption is more common among farmers with larger landholdings due to the long growth period for trees, financial barriers, and poor market connections.

Trees Outside of Forests India (TOFI) initiative:

The ‘Trees Outside of Forests India’ (TOFI) initiative, a collaboration between the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and India’s Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, aims to increase tree cover in seven Indian states by leveraging potential expansion opportunities and strategic actions.
Key challenges identified in these states—Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Haryana, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh—include limited water availability and financial support for transitioning to agroforestry.
Despite these obstacles, solutions appear feasible and within reach, offering hope for improving tree cover outside traditional forest areas.

Jaltol- a water accounting tool:

The National Agroforestry Policy, introduced by India’s Ministry of Agriculture in 2014, recognized water availability as a significant challenge, particularly for smallholders who often face financial difficulties in securing water resources.
To address this, a collaboration with Bengaluru-based WELL Labs adopted an open-source water-accounting tool, ‘Jaltol’, to identify potential conflicts between tree and crop water usage.
This technology assists restoration practitioners and civil society organizations in choosing suitable tree-crop combinations for agroforestry in water-limited areas.

Finding the right native species:

Farmers often prefer fast-growing, herbivore-resistant trees, but these tend to be non-native and can negatively impact soil health and human well-being.
For instance, non-native species like casuarina and eucalyptus are favoured for their tolerance to saline soils and minimal labour needs, but they are typically used in large mono-crop plantations rather than in mixed or small-scale settings.
To effectively address land degradation and enhance livelihood diversification, it’s necessary to find native species that meet multiple criteria.
Diversity for Restoration:
- A tool developed to help with decision-making on the use of appropriate tree species and seed sources for tree-based restoration or other tree planting activities, originally designed for tropical dry forests in Colombia, and aimed at all those interested in planting or regenerating trees, including scientists, restoration planners and practitioners as well as public authorities, investors and donors.

Indian Forest and Wood Certification Scheme 2023:

Objective:
- The IFWCS is designed to provide a domestic alternative to private foreign certification agencies, aiming to enhance integrity, transparency, and credibility in certifying sustainable forest management and wood-based products.
Certification Scope:
- Sustainable Forest Management: Ensures forests are managed sustainably.
- Sustainable Management of Trees Outside Forests: Includes plantations and other non-forest tree areas.
- Chain of Custody: Ensures traceability of forest products through their supply chain to guarantee ethical sourcing and handling.
Nodal Agencies:
- Indian Forest and Wood Certification Council: Serves as a multistakeholder advisory body.
- Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal: Acts as the scheme operating agency responsible for overall management.
- National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (Quality Council of India): Accredits certification bodies to conduct independent audits and ensure compliance with the standards.
Trees Outside Forests Standard:
- This new standard covers trees growing in non-traditional forest environments, such as farm lands, private institutional and industrial lands, and includes trees in agroforestry systems, silvo-pastoralism, and urban and rural forestry systems.
Benefits:
- Enhances trust and transparency in forest management and the wood product industry.
- Provides market incentives for entities adhering to responsible forest management and agroforestry practices, including state forest departments, individual farmers, Farmer Producer Organizations, and wood-based industries.
Global Context:
- The launch of IFWCS is part of global efforts to combat deforestation, aligning with commitments made by over 100 countries at the 2021 Glasgow climate change conference to halt and reverse deforestation by 2030.

Source: TH

7. Silent Chornobyl: Dry Aral Sea has made Central Asia dustier, with impacts on global climate, says study

Subject: Geography

Section: Mapping

Context:

The Aral Sea, once the world’s fourth-largest lake, has dramatically shrunk since the 1960s due to Soviet irrigation projects, leading to severe environmental impacts.

Study findings on the Aral Sea:

A recent study by the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research and Freie Universität Berlin reveals that the desertification of the Aral Sea has increased dust emissions in Central Asia by 7% over the last three decades.
The findings were released at the Second Central Asian Dust Conference (CADUC-2), held in Nukus, Uzbekistan, on the site of the former Aral Sea.
From 1985 to 2015, annual dust emissions nearly doubled, rising from 14 million to 27 million tonnes.
This increase in dust is not only more hazardous than typical dust but also likely influences global climate, though further research is needed to confirm these effects.
The study also highlighted that much of this dust activity is missed by traditional satellite observations due to its occurrence under cloudy conditions.
This rising dust level poses health risks to local populations and contributes to air quality degradation in the capitals of Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
Moreover, the dust can accelerate glacier melt, worsening the water crisis in the region.

A Soviet legacy:

The Aral Sea, once replenished by the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers from the mountain ranges of High Asia, suffered a drastic reduction in water input due to extensive irrigation practices for agriculture implemented during the Soviet era.
This led to the drying up of large areas of the lake, reducing it to a fraction of its original size and transforming the majority of it into what is now known as the Aralkum Desert.
Covering an area of 60,000 square kilometres, the Aralkum, though smaller than its neighbouring natural deserts, the Karakum and Kyzylkum, has become one of the most significant human-made dust sources in the world.
The dust from the Aralkum is particularly hazardous as it contains residues of fertilizers and pesticides from its past agricultural use.

Climate impact:

Researchers from TROPOS and FU Berlin have studied the climatic impacts of dust from the Aralkum Desert using the COSMO-MUSCAT atmospheric dust model. This model helps simulate dust emissions, atmospheric concentrations, and the radiative effects of dust particles.
They found that dust from the Aralkum affects agricultural areas along the Syr Darya and reaches cities over 800 kilometres away, including Ashgabat and Dushanbe.
The dust influences the local climate by cooling the surface during the day by dimming sunlight and warming it at night by re-emitting ground heat radiation. This dual effect—cooling or warming—depends on various factors such as dust amount, time of day, season, surface albedo, and dust’s mineralogical and optical properties.
The recent increase in dust emissions from the Aral Sea/Aralkum region has affected radiative cooling and heating, generally leading to slight overall cooling at about -0.05 ±0.51 watts per square meter annually.
Moreover, this dust is thought to alter weather patterns by increasing ground-level air pressure, intensifying the Siberian high during winter and weakening the Central Asian warm low during summer.
The shrinking of other lakes like Urmia in Iran and Hamoun on the Iran-Afghanistan border, also turning into significant dust sources, highlights the broader regional and possibly global implications of such environmental changes.

Aral Sea:

The Aral Sea was an endorheic lake lying between Kazakhstan to its north and Uzbekistan to its south which began shrinking in the 1960s and largely dried up by the 2010s.
It was in the Aktobe and Kyzylorda regions of Kazakhstan and the Karakalpakstan autonomous region of Uzbekistan.
The name roughly translates from Mongolic and Turkic languages to “Sea of Islands”, a reference to the large number of islands (over 1,100) that once dotted its waters.
The Aral Sea drainage basin encompasses Uzbekistan and parts of Afghanistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.

Source: DTE

8. Centre tweaks green credit programme norms

Subject: Schemes

Sec: Env

Green Credit Program (GCP):

The Green Credit Programme (GCP), initiated by the Union Environment Ministry, aims to encourage investment in afforestation on degraded forest lands to generate ‘green credits.’
These credits are intended for organizations and individuals to contribute to environmental restoration rather than merely tree planting.
Under the GCP, 387 parcels of degraded forest land, totalling nearly 10,983 hectares, have been identified across 13 states for restoration.
Interested parties can fund these projects, with actual afforestation conducted by State forest departments.
Two years post-planting, following an evaluation by the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), each tree can earn one green credit.
These credits can be utilized by financiers to comply with forest laws that necessitate compensation for forest land used for non-forestry purposes, or they can be applied towards meeting corporate social responsibility objectives or environmental, social, and governance reporting norms.
Although currently non-tradeable, the GCP’s rules, established in October 2023, outline a future where these credits could be tradable on domestic markets and potentially convert into carbon credits if they contribute to significant reductions in carbon emissions.

8 Key Activities Eligible for Green Credits:

Tree Plantation, Water Conservation, Sustainable Agriculture, Waste Management, Air Pollution Reduction, Mangrove Conservation, Ecomark Acquisition, and Sustainable Building and Infrastructure.

Updates in the guidelines:

The Environment Ministry has recently updated its guidelines for the restoration of degraded forest landscapes, giving states the autonomy to determine the necessary tree density, which was previously set at a minimum of 1,100 trees per hectare.
Recognizing that not all degraded areas can support such density, the new guidelines allow for the inclusion of shrubs, herbs, and grasses as suitable restoration elements.
Although the program is in its pilot phase, there are ongoing deliberations on how to quantify non-tree vegetation for green credits and determine the portion of compensatory afforestation obligations that can be offset using green credits. The equivalence between green credits and carbon credits is also under review.

Source: TH

9. On India’s ‘heat action plans’

Subject: Geography

Sec: Climatology

Context:

As summer approaches, India typically braces for heat alerts from the India Meteorological Department (IMD). This year, such alerts started unusually early, in February, with parts of northeast and western India already experiencing temperatures 3.1-5 degrees Celsius above normal.

Heatwaves:

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) defines a heatwave based on the maximum temperatures of different geographical areas: 40°C or more in the plains, 37°C or more along the coast, and 30°C or more in the hills.
A heatwave is categorized as ‘normal’ when temperatures exceed the normal by 4.5-6.4°C and as ‘severe’ when the departure is greater.
Additionally, a heatwave can be declared based on maximum temperatures alone: over 45°C is considered a heatwave, and over 47°C is severe.
The criteria also require that at least two stations in a meteorological subdivision report such high temperatures, or one station reports a significant departure from normal temperatures for at least two consecutive days.
How India Tackles Heatwaves?
- To manage and mitigate the impact of heatwaves, which are increasing in frequency and severity, India employs Heat Action Plans (HAPs).
- These plans are developed at state, district, and city levels with the collaboration of the National Disaster Management Authority and the IMD.
- Currently, 23 states are involved in developing these plans, though no centralized database of HAPs exists.
- Plans typically include a heat profile of the region, historical data on heat waves, and a vulnerability assessment to identify high-risk areas.
- They also outline detailed response strategies to be implemented before, during, and after heatwave events and define the roles of various governmental departments, such as disaster management, labour departments, and police, in managing the heatwave response.

What do the HAPs recommend?

Heat Action Plans (HAPs) recommend a multifaceted approach to manage and mitigate the effects of heat waves. Key recommendations include:
- Early Warning and Communication
- Public Education
- Establishing heat shelters and cooling centers, and ensuring the availability of clean drinking water to prevent dehydration.
- Healthcare Preparedness
- Implementing long-term urban planning strategies that include tree planting, using heat-resistant building materials, and applying cool roofing technologies to minimize the urban heat island effect and reduce indoor temperatures.

Heat Action Plans (HAPs) face several challenges that limit their effectiveness:

Local Context Sensitivity:
- Incorporating a wider definition of heatwaves to include humid heat and warmer nights is necessary, along with a comprehensive heat index that considers multiple factors beyond temperature.
Inconsistent Assessment Methods:
- While vulnerability assessments are part of most HAPs, the methodologies used are inconsistent. Transitioning to robust climate risk assessments that evaluate the likelihood and impact of heat waves on diverse areas is crucial.
- Geospatial data should be utilized for effective hotspot mapping to prioritize and tailor interventions.
Addressing Vulnerable Populations:
- HAPs recognize the need to protect vulnerable groups but often lack targeted interventions that consider the specific needs and socio-economic conditions of these populations.
- Strategies should also account for the informal sector, which makes up over 90% of India’s economy, to ensure these workers are not exposed to heat without losing income.
Resource Allocation and Collaboration:
- Dedicated budgets and collaborative financial mechanisms involving state bodies, civil society, and worker unions are needed to support compliance without income loss.
- Integrating HAPs with broader urban resilience and climate adaptation plans could enhance resource pooling and overall effectiveness.
Infrastructure and Nature-Based Solutions:
- While long-term infrastructure solutions like cool roofs are mentioned, there is a need for a more focused approach to incorporating green and blue spaces and other nature-based solutions to mitigate heat effectively.

Source: TH