As India confronts yet another punishing summer, the realities of climate change are no longer abstract. The first nationwide heatwave alert of 2025 was issued as early as April 8, and large parts of the country are already experiencing temperatures soaring past historical norms. Yet, in the face of increasing fatalities, productivity loss and public health strain, the Union government continues to treat heatwaves as a seasonal nuisance rather than the climate emergency they are.
The UN secretary-general’s ‘Call to Action on Extreme Heat’ warns that heat is now the deadliest of all climate hazards. For India, where 90 percent of the workforce is informal, healthcare systems are uneven, and urban heat islands are rapidly expanding, this danger is existential. But while states scramble to prepare, no overarching national heatwave policy offers coordination, funding or technical guidance.
The result? A patchwork of uneven responses. Some states like Delhi and Jammu & Kashmir have introduced heat action plans with hydration points and early warnings. Others are still in the planning phase. These fragmented efforts often kick in after disaster strikes, leaving the most vulnerable—daily-wage labourers, the elderly and children—at the mercy of extreme temperatures. There’s no national framework to set standards, enforce accountability, or ensure that mitigation matches adaptation.
In this scenario, Tamil Nadu stands as a striking counter-example. Under the leadership of Chief Minister M K Stalin, the state has taken a proactive, institutionalised approach to climate resilience. The Tamil Nadu Climate Change Mission and the Green Tamil Nadu Mission are governance tools integrated into urban design, agriculture, public health and education.
The state’s preparedness isn’t seasonal; it is systemic. It has built green cover in urban areas to lower ambient temperatures, promoted cool roofs in government buildings and low-income housing, and ensured that district administrations have clear, locally-adaptable guidelines to address heat stress. Schools are instructed to alter timings and ensure hydration, hospitals are equipped for heat stroke emergencies, and public awareness campaigns precede—not follow—peak summer.
Tamil Nadu’s anticipatory approach is in direct contrast to the Union government's delayed, ad hoc advisories. A single advisory issued in March 2025 simply asked states to “prepare”—without guidelines, resources or measurable indicators. The Union government’s inaction amounts to a dangerous abdication of responsibility in a crisis that is growing more frequent and severe with each passing year.
The economic toll is just as stark. Heatwaves have already begun to impact national productivity. A recent study from the Global Heat Health Information Network links prolonged heat exposure with an 8-10 percent reduction in outdoor labour output, especially in construction and agriculture—sectors that form the backbone of India’s employment. Yet, there is no national compensation framework for wage loss due to extreme heat, nor a safety net for workers forced off jobs because conditions are life-threatening.
Global best practices offer a clear direction. France operates a national heatwave plan with tiered alerts, welfare checks and legally mandated cooling zones. The US promotes urban cooling through green infrastructure, public health preparedness and building design. WHO’s ClimaHealth platform recommends integrated planning between climate and health ministries. All of these approaches share one thing in common: national leadership and coordination.
That is exactly what India lacks. A national heatwave policy must mandate every state to draft and regularly update its heat actions plan, back it with central funding and develop a national heat surveillance system. It must also move beyond urban centres to cover rural and peri-urban zones—where resilience is low and mortality often underreported. It must protect the informal worker, ensure health systems can respond in real time, and embed cooling into housing, transport and employment policies.
Heat resilience is also about justice. Vulnerable groups suffer disproportionately: slum dwellers without insulation, gig workers with no rest breaks, women who cook over open fires in poorly ventilated homes and elderly citizens without access to cooling spaces. Tamil Nadu is addressing these intersections through targeted welfare schemes and smart urban planning, but without support from the Union government, such isolated successes can only go so far.
The Union government must step up by owning the climate mandate. That includes developing an enforceable policy under the Disaster Management Act, funding heat-resilient infrastructure through schemes like Smart Cities and AMRUT, and ensuring that climate justice is not left to the vision of a few progressive states. Tamil Nadu has demonstrated that heatwaves are neither unpredictable nor unmanageable. With foresight, planning, and political will, lives can be protected and systems strengthened.
If the Union government continues to see heatwaves as an annual inconvenience rather than a structural threat, the costs will only multiply—both in human and economic terms. India doesn’t need to wait for more headlines, more deaths or more advisories. What it needs is a national heatwave policy that is as bold, urgent and structured as the threat itself. Tamil Nadu has shown the way—the Union must now catch up.
Thamizhachi Thangapandian
MP from South Chennai and a member of the Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
(Views are personal)