Centre sets eyes on heatwave management as higher temperatures grip India

Labour Ministry calls for urgent heatwave protection measures for workers

As the heatwave tightens its grip across India, the Centre has stepped up efforts to strengthen heatwave management, with the Union Health and Labour Ministries directing states and union territories (UTs) to scale up preparedness.

 

The Ministry of Labour & Employment on Tuesday issued a nationwide advisory. It called for immediate preventive and mitigation measures to safeguard workers from rising temperatures and heatwave conditions.

 

In a communication to chief secretaries and administrators, the ministry asked states to direct employers, industries and construction firms to implement safety measures to protect workers. This is particularly for those employed in outdoor and labour-intensive sectors, the ministry said in a statement.

 

 

“States/UTs have been advised to issue necessary directions to employers, occupiers, industries and construction companies for immediate implementation of worker safety measures,” the statement said.

 

This comes just days after Union Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava asked states and UTs to ensure operationalisation of dedicated heat stroke management units at all health facilities, adequate preparedness of ambulance services and dissemination of early warnings for timely action.

 

The letter also asked for real-time reporting of heat stroke cases on the Union Health Ministry’s Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP) portal.

 

OPD’s seeing 10-15% rise in heat-related illnesses

 

The government’s focus on heatwave preparation comes at a time when Tier-1 cities like Delhi and Mumbai are seeing a 10-15 per cent surge in patient visits due to heat strokes, exhaustion, and other heat-related illnesses such as dehydration, dizziness, and exacerbation of chronic conditions.

Ritesh Shah, consultant for internal medicine at Mumbai’s Saifee Hospital said that majority of cases coming to him are of heat exhaustion and dehydration, which constitute almost 60 to 70 per cent of patients.

“The moderate category cases such as heat cramps and fainting attacks are around 20 to 30 per cent. At the moment, there are fewer severe cases of heatstroke, but they need to be managed aggressively,” he added.

 

To counter this, hospitals have started to focus on preventive advisories encouraging hydration, use of oral rehydration solutions (ORS) and avoiding peak sun exposure at the OPD level.

 

“From a systems perspective, triage areas and emergency departments are being equipped with active cooling measures such as air-conditioned zones, cooling packs and rapid hydration protocols for suspected heat-related illnesses,” said Tushar Tayal, associate director for internal medicine at Gurugram’s CK Birla Hospital.

 

He added that intensive care units (ICUs) are on alert to manage severe cases like heat stroke, with protocols in place for temperature control, electrolyte correction and organ support where required.

 

Another Mumbai-based doctor told Business Standard that the majority of patients with heat-related illnesses are working-age adults, as they have a higher exposure to heat, either during outdoor work or because they spend prolonged hours in a warm environment.

 

As a consequence, the labour ministry has advised factory and mine managements to allow flexibility in work, including slowing the pace during peak heat hours and deploying additional workers where continuous operations are unavoidable.

 

The advisory also flagged the need for special attention to sectors such as construction workers, brick kiln workers, daily wage earners and casual labourers.