HYDERABAD: Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy on Friday announced the Heatwave Action Plan 2025 (HAP) for public health and safety. He was speaking during a high-level review meeting at the Secretariat with officials from 12 key departments.The announcement comes in the wake of the IMD forecast, noting the possibility of excessive heatwaves and high temperatures continuing till June.
Speaking at the meeting, Srinivasa Reddy said that given the high temperatures and heatwaves, drinking water along with ORS and buttermilk packets should be supplied in the cooling stations, and the authorities should take steps to ensure that various companies supply these under CSR, and that the main focus should be on the districts of Hyderabad, Warangal, Khammam, Mahabubnagar, Nizamabad, Kothagudem, Medak, Karimnagar and other urban areas.
Out of 612 mandals, about 588 have been classified as heatwave-affected areas, and it has been declared a state-specific disaster. As part of the relief measures, the ex-gratia payment to the families of the heatwave victims has been increased from Rs 50,000 to Rs 4 lakh.
The Labour Welfare Department has been advised to focus on matters like providing necessary facilities, including drinking water, ORS packets and shade facilities to solid waste management workers.
The minister also directed the Health and Family Welfare Department to take action on issues like information related to heatwaves, precautions to be taken by the people during high temperatures, the establishment of cool wards, and conducting fire safety audits in hospitals.
Similarly, the Industries and Commerce Department was instructed to advise industries to divide workers working in hot areas into two groups and adopt a rotation system to provide at least one or two hours of rest.
Further, urban local bodies and municipalities were given instructions for setting up shelters and water distribution points at public places such as bus stands, markets, tourist centres and places of worship.
Similarly, guidelines were given to the officials of the Information Department, Fisheries and Animal Husbandry Department, Protected Drinking Water Supply, Forest and Electricity Departments.
People advised not to venture out
Collector Valluru Kranthi has advised the citizens not to come out of their homes in the middle of the day unless it is necessary, and take all precautionary measures required to protect themselves. She stated that more focus should be placed towards children and elderly people. Officials were instructed to take up awareness programmes in this regard, in addition to providing drinking water facilities and ORS packets. No deaths due to heatstroke have been reported
Awareness campaign in Nizamabad dist
District Collector Rajiv Gandhi Hanumanthu has urged officials to launch extensive field-level awareness initiatives to educate the public on precautions to prevent heatstroke, as temperatures continue to rise across the district.He directed the officials to inform the public about the dos and don’ts during periods of intense heat.
As part of the district’s heatwave mitigation efforts, the administration has mandated that MNREGS workers carry out their duties during the cooler morning hours. Additionally, the collector directed all medical officers and staff at government hospitals, PHCs and CHCs to stay alert and ensure that sufficient supplies of heatstroke prevention medicines are on hand