11-May-2022: Guidelines regarding precautions to be observed by schools to combat the ill-effects of the heat-wave

Ministry of Education today issued following guidelines regarding precautions to be observed by schools to combat the ill-effects of the heat-wave.

1. Modification in School timings and daily routine
   • School hours may start early and get over before noon. Timing may be from 7.00 AM onwards.
   • Number of school hours per day may be reduced.
   • Sports/other outdoor activities which expose students directly to the sunlight may be appropriately adjusted in the early morning.
   • School assembly should be conducted in covered area or in classrooms with reduced timing.
   • Similar care may be taken during dispersal after school is over.
2. Transportation
   • School bus/van should not be over-crowded. It should not carry students more than the seating capacity.
   • Drinking water and first aid kit should be available in the bus/van.
   • Students coming to school on foot/bicycle should be advised to keep their head covered.
   • Parents should be sensitised to pick-up the students themselves, to the extent possible, to avoid public transport and minimise their time out in the sun.
   • School bus/van may be parked in a shaded area.
3. Hydration
   • Students may be advised to carry their own water bottles, caps and umbrellas and use them when out in the open
   • School should ensure availability of sufficient potable water at multiple places preferably at temperature lower than that of surroundings.
   • Water cooler/earthen pots (pitchers) may be used for providing cold water.
   • In every period, teacher should remind students to sip water from their water bottles.
   • While going back home, schools must ensure that students are carrying water in their bottles.
   • Students should be made aware of the importance of proper hydration to combat the heat wave and advised to drink sufficient water at regular interval.
   • With increased hydration, use of washrooms may increase and schools should be prepared for it by keeping the washrooms hygienic and clean
4. Food and Meals
   • Heat can spoil food therefore hot-cooked meals under PM POSHAN must be served hot and fresh. In charge teacher may check the food before serving.
   • Children carrying tiffin may be advised not to carry food that can turn stale quickly.
   • Canteens in schools should ensure that fresh and healthy food is served.
   • Children may be advised to have light food during lunch/tiffin.
5. Comfortable classroom
   • School should ensure that all fans are functional and that all classrooms are properly ventilated.
   • Availability of alternate power back up may be arranged, if possible.
   • Curtains/blinds/newspaper, etc. may be used to stop the sunlight entering directly into the classroom.
   • If any local traditional practices are being followed by the school to keep the surroundings cool such as ‘khus’ curtains, bamboo/jute chiks etc., they may be continued.
6. Uniform
   • Students may be allowed to wear loose and light coloured cotton material dress.
   • Schools may relax norms regarding uniform such as neck ties.
   • Canvas shoes may be allowed instead of leather shoes.
   • Students may be advised to preferably wear full-sleeve shirt.
7. First-Aid facilities
   • Sachets of ORS solution, or salt and sugar solution to treat mild heat-stroke should be readily available in the schools.
   • Teaching and non-teaching staff should be trained to provide first aid to students in case of mild heat-stroke
   • Schools must ensure quick access to nearest hospital/clinic/doctor/nurse, etc. in case of heatstroke.
   • Essential medical kits should be available in school.
8. Do’s and Don’ts for students

Do’s& Don’ts regarding heat wave should be displayed at prominent places in the school. These may include the following:-

Do’s:

• Drink sufficient water- even if not thirsty
• Use ORS (Oral Rehydration solution), homemade drink like lassi, torani (rice water), lemon water, butter milk, etc. to keep yourself hydrated.
• Wear lightweight, light coloured, loose, cotton clothes.
• Cover your head by using cloth, hat or umbrella, etc.
• Stay indoor as much as possible
• If you feel faint or ill, see a doctor immediately

Don’ts:

• Do not go outside on an empty stomach or after consuming heavy food
• Avoid going out in the sun, especially in the afternoon if not required
• Avoid strenuous activities when outside in the afternoon
• Do not go outside barefoot
• Do not eat junk/stale/spicy food

9. Exam Centres:
   • Children may be allowed to bring their own transparent water bottle in the examination hall.
   • Examination centres should ensure availability of potable drinking water which is easily accessible to the candidates at the centres.
   • Examination Centres should ensure that the candidates are promptly supplied water when asked for at their seats in the examination hall
   • Examination halls may be provided with fans.
   • Students waiting area at the examination centre may be in a shaded/covered area with provision of water.
   • Linkage of examination centres should be made with local health worker and medical centres for any emergency.
10. Residential Schools; In addition to the above, residential schools may take the following additional measures:
    • Essential medicines for common ailments related with summer season should be available with Staff Nurse.
    • Students may be made aware regarding prevention of heat stroke.
    • Windows in the dormitories should be provided with curtains.
    • Lemon, butter milk& seasonal fruits with high water content should be included in the diet.
    • Spicy food should be avoided.
    • Continuous availability of water and electricity should be ensured in classrooms, hostels and dining hall.
    • Sports and games activities should be conducted in the evening.

7-Sep-2021: Three new heatwave hotspots in India put large population at immediate health risk

North-Western, Central, and further to south-central region of India are the new hotspot of intense heatwave events over the past half-century, said a study which found an increase in deadly Indian heat waves in recent years. The study also highlights the need for developing effective heat action plans in the three heatwave hotspot regions with a focus on different vulnerabilities among the inhabitants.

Heatwaves emerged as a deadly health hazard, claiming thousands of lives across the globe in recent decades, with episodes strengthening in frequency, intensity, and duration in the past half-century in India as well. This has caused severe impacts on health, agriculture, economy, and infrastructure. In such a scenario, it is extremely important to identify the most heatwave vulnerable regions of the country to prioritize immediate policy intervention and stringent mitigation and adaptation strategies.

A team of researchers led by Prof. R.K. Mall and including Saumya Singh and Nidhi Singh from the Department of Science & Technology, Govt. of India-Mahamana Centre of Excellence in Climate Change Research (MCECCR) at Banaras Hindu University studied the change in spatial and temporal trends in Heatwaves (HW) and Severe heatwaves (SHW) over the past seven decades in different meteorological subdivisions of India. This work has been supported under the Climate Change Program of the Department of Science & Technology. The study published in the journal “International Journal of Climatology” links the association of HW and SHW with mortality over India.

The study showed a shift in the Spatio-temporal trend of HW events from the eastern region of Gangetic West Bengal and Bihar to North-Western, Central and further to south-central region of India. The research also observed an alarming southward expansion and a spatial surge in SHW events in the last few decades that may put a greater population at additional risk of heat stress in a region already characterized by low Diurnal temperature range (DTR), or the difference between the maximum and minimum temperatures within one day and high humidity. Importantly, the HW/SHW events were found to be positively correlated with mortality in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, highlighting that human health is highly susceptible to severe heatwave disasters.

With an ever-increasing extreme-temperature threshold, a heat resilient future is the need of the hour. Dense population with an intensive outdoor work culture calls for an equitable heat resilient mitigation and adaptation strategies covering each section of the society depending on their vulnerability. The study highlights the need for developing effective heat action plans in the three heatwave hotspot regions.

To mitigate future disastrous implications of exacerbated heat extremes and frame adequate adaptation measures in the wake of possible emergence of new hotspots, reliable future projections are needed. This motivated the research team consisting of Saumya Singh, Jiteshwar Dadich, Sunita Verma, J.V. Singh, and Akhilesh Gupta, and R. K. Mall to evaluate the regional climate models (RCM) over the Indian subcontinent to find the best performing RCM. These will help study the frequency, intensity, and spatial surge of heatwaves in the future. The study found models LMDZ4 and GFDL-ESM2M to be the best-performing ones in simulating heat waves over India in the present scenario, which can be reliably used for future projections as well. Thing study was recently published in an international journal, “Atmospheric Research”. The two models have laid the grounds for preparation for a heatwave resilient future.

29-Nov-2018: Lancet urges response to heatwave exposure surge

Indian policy makers must take a series of initiatives to mitigate the increased risks to health, and the loss of labour hours due to a surge in exposure to heatwave events in the country over the 2012-2016 period, the Lancet Countdown 2018 report recommends.

From 2014-2017, the average length of heatwaves in India ranged from 3-4 days compared to the global average of 0.8-1.8 days, and Indians were exposed to almost 60 million heatwave exposure events in 2016, a jump of about 40 million from 2012.

Heatwaves are associated with increased rates of heat stress and heat stroke, worsening heart failure and acute kidney injury from dehydration. Children, the elderly and those with pre-existing morbidities are particularly vulnerable.

Almost 153 billion hours of labour were lost globally in 2017 due to heat, an increase of 62 billion hours from the year 2000.

Observing that a recent report “places India amongst the countries who most experience high social and economic costs from climate change”, the study makes several recommendations. These include identifying “heat hot-spots” through appropriate tracking of meteorological data and promoting “timely development and implementation of local Heat Action Plans with strategic inter-agency co-ordination, and a response which targets the most vulnerable groups.”

The report prepared jointly with the Public Health Foundation of India also urges a review of existing occupational health standards, labour laws and sectoral regulations for worker safety in relation to climatic conditions.

The India Meteorological Department had reported that from 1901 to 2007, there was an increase of more than 0.5°C in mean temperature, with considerable geographic variation, and climate forecasts by research groups project a 2.2-5.5°C rise in temperatures in northern, central and western India by the end of the 21st century.

The number of hours of labour lost also jumped between 2000-2017 across India.

For the agriculture sector alone, this rose to about 60,000 million hours in 2017, from about 40,000 million hours in 2000. Overall, across sectors India lost almost 75,000 million hours of labour in 2017, from about 43,000 million hours in 2000.

The agriculture sector was more vulnerable compared to the industrial and service sectors because workers there were more likely to be exposed to heat.

The findings are significant for India as agriculture makes up 18% of the country’s GDP and employs almost half the population. A recent World Bank report on South Asia’s hotspots predicted a 2.8% erosion of the country’s GDP by 2050, accompanied by a fall in living standards due to changes in temperature, rainfall and precipitation patterns.

If the average global temperature rose by more than one degree Celsius from the present, India could “annually” expect conditions like the 2015 heat wave that killed at least 2,000, according to the ‘Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C,’ commissioned by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), last month.

Next week, the Conference of Parties — a compact of about 190 countries signatory to the UN treaties to address global warming — is set to begin talks in Katowice, Poland, to iron out a ‘rule book’ to implement the Paris Agreement of 2015. The agreement was a landmark accord, in which countries agreed to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by limiting the global temperature rise this century to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5°C.

Following criteria are used to declare heat wave:

1. Based on Departure from Normal:

Heat Wave: Departure from normal is 4.5°C to 6.4°C.

Severe Heat Wave: Departure from normal is >6.4°C.

2. Based on Actual Maximum Temperature (for plains only):

Heat Wave: When actual maximum temperature ≥ 45°C

Severe Heat Wave: When actual maximum temperature ≥47°C

To declare heat wave, the above criteria should be met at least in 2 stations in a Meteorological sub-division for at least two consecutive days and it will be declared on the second day.

26-Apr-2022: Forest Fires can be an important factor in reducing solar power production in India

A new study has found that forest fires which plague different parts of India, especially during the summer season play a major role in reducing solar power production in India. Such analysis of the energy and financial losses due to the direct and indirect effects of forest fires on the production of solar plants can help grid operators to plan and schedule power generation, as also the distribution, supply, security, and overall stability of power production.

Recently, solar energy generation has been widely used in developing countries such as India which has sufficient solar resources. However, several factors like clouds, aerosols, and pollution generated from various sources limit the solar irradiance causing performance issues in the photovoltaic and concentrated solar power plant installations. Large-scale development of a solar energy system requires proper planning, and there is a need to estimate the solar potential

Keeping this in mind, a group of researchers at the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), Nainital an autonomous research institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) Govt. of India, and the National Observatory of Athens (NOA), Greece tried to trace the factors that reduce solar energy production. They found that apart from clouds and aerosols, forest fires play a very crucial role in reducing solar energy production.

The study published in the international peer-reviewed journal Remote Sensing shows that the aerosol optical depth values were up to 1.8 during the study period (January to April 2021), during which massive forest fire events led to attenuation of total solar radiation incident on a horizontal surface (global horizontal irradiance- GHI ) and solar radiation received from the sun without having been scattered (beam horizontal irradiance --BHI) by 0 to 45%. During this period the air masses were renewed quickly mitigating the smoke contribution to the total aerosol loads and were dominated by continental pollution.

The scientists used remote sensing data for the research and studied the impact of aerosols and clouds on the solar energy potential over the Indian region with extensive analysis and model simulations. They also provided an analytical financial analysis in terms of revenue and losses due to clouds and aerosols.

The research was led by Dr. Umesh Chandra Dumka, Scientist, ARIES, with contributions by Prof. Panagiotis G Kosmopoulos, Scientist, NOA, and Dr. Piyush Kumar N. Patel, Scientist, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, USA, and provided a comprehensive investigation of the impact of aerosols and clouds on solar energy production over the region.

The findings of the present study will drastically increase the awareness among decision-makers about the effect of forest fires on energy management and planning at a country level. In addition, this research can support the mitigation processes and policies for climate change and its direct and indirect impacts on sustainable development.

2-Apr-2019: Forest fires threatening Odisha’s flora and fauna

Odisha had registered a sudden jump in forest fires across the State resulting in massive damage to flora and fauna. As many as 5,332 fire spots had been noticed since November 1, the beginning of forest fire season, in the State. The month of March had alone registered 4,495 fire spots.

As per statistics generated by SNPP (Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership) satellite, only 385 fire spots were recorded in February while in January, only 55 fire incidences were detected.

Southern Odisha looked red in the map provided by Forest Fire Geo Portal of Forest Survey. In Koraput, the southernmost forest circle in Odisha, 2,809 fire spots had been detected since November. It was followed by Bhawanipatna with 622 fire incidences and Berhampur (601). Rourkela and Sambalpur division had relatively lower incidences with 416 and 355 fire spots detected during the same period.

The month of April started with 11 fires on Monday as detected by Moderate resolution Imaging Spectro-radiometer (MODIS) with a resolution of 1 km.

Forest divisions mapped: Though forest department claimed to have mapped the forest divisions prone to fire and maintained more than 6,000-km long fire line in different forests ahead of the fire season, forests continue to be gutted. Given the vastness of forest areas and gigantic task, number of fire watchers engaged in fire-fighting appears to be too little.

Apart from causing a huge loss to the timber and other fruit and leaf bearing trees and creepers of the forest, fires also destroy wildlife and their habitat. Nests and eggs of ground dwelling birds are lost. Reptiles also lose their young ones due to forest fires.

Fire could only be tamed at the initial stage before it becomes a conflagration preventing anybody from even approaching it due to the intense heat generated.

2-Mar-2019: Frequent forest fires at the Bandipur reserve

A five-day fire that raged through the Bandipur Tiger Reserve has reportedly burnt more than 15,400 acres of forests. Between February 21 and 25, the reserve saw 127 fire counts in various ranges of the 912 sq km forest.

While fires are not uncommon at Bandipur, what has surprised officials is their intensity and frequency. The worry now is the long-term damage to the ecosystem, which is a part of the Nilgiri Biosphere that hosts the world’s largest tiger population, at more than 575 (2014 census).

The 2018 monsoon was particularly strong, but the year-end northeast monsoon has failed. If the monsoon led to dense growth, the blistering heat since September has turned vegetation brittle and dry, with vast swathes becoming tinderboxes. As with most forest fires, it is assumed that Bandipur’s ignition was man-made.

The suspicion stems out of a growing animosity between the Department and forest-dwellers who accuse officials of harassment through the wildlife rules. Any investigation into the fires is unlikely to pinpoint a cause or culprits. Strong gusts ensured that the fires spread quickly. Compounding matters is the ubiquity of lantana camara, an invasive weed species native to South America, that has spread through nearly two-thirds of the forest area.

Over 400 fire watchers were placed, but questions have arisen whether the precautions were enough, especially since Bandipur has had frequent fires.

Bandipur is a dry deciduous forest in the rain shadow region of the Western Ghats, and is no stranger to fires. Periods of drought invariably lead to fires. In 2017, a forest guard was killed while attempting to douse a fire in the region.

A study has shown that between 1974 and 2014, 67% of the Nilgiri Biosphere had seen some form of forest fire, with Bandipur having reported the most incidents. However, the number of forest fires had considerably come down over the decades as the Forest Department attempted to pre-empt them through fire control lines and fire watchers.

The country’s forest policy encourages a zero forest fire approach for its protected landscapes — whether it is Bandipur or the rainforests of the upper Western Ghats. Scientific literature have shown this blanket approach may be doing harm to dry, deciduous forests where trees have evolved to co-exist with fire. Scientists have noted in a recent study that the trees in this landscape were closer to those in a savanna than in rainforests 100 km away. Trees have dramatically thicker barks, implying that they had evolved to be fire-resistant.

When fires are relatively frequent, adult tree mortality in these systems is very low. Many saplings sprout shortly after the fire from underground reserves, and the system returns to its original state in a few years. Conversely, when fires are suppressed — including by curbing the tribal practices of controlled fire burning — a greater biomass builds up that can lead to high intensity fires which affect the ecosystem negatively. Moreover, there might be a correlation between fire suppression and growth of lantana camara, which has replaced the grassy undergrowth in many areas.