![\"viewimage\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/indigenus\/files\/2013\/04\/viewimage-300x253.jpg\" "\\"viewimage\\"")
<\/a>Some key people behind the action plan: (clockwise) Kim Knowlton, Dileep Mavalankar, Gulrez Azhar and Anjali Jaiswal (inset).<\/p><\/div>\n
The plan has been finalised in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Public Health (IIPH), Gandhinagar;\u00a0Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University, Georgia, USA;\u00a0and\u00a0Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC).\u00a0NRDC said in a release that with this plan to protect residents from extreme heat events, Ahmedabad will be able to ‘comprehensively address the threat of extreme heat caused by climate change.’ (NRDC’s\u00a0Anjali Jaiswal<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Kim Knowlton<\/a>\u00a0have elaborated on the action plan in their blogs earlier. Dileep Mavalankar<\/a> and Gulrez Shah Azhar<\/a>\u00a0from IIPH, Gandhinagar were partners in the project.\u00a0)<\/p>\n The action plan\u00a0includes initiatives to educate communities on the health risks of extreme heat, implement an early warning system, and train medical officials to treat heat-related illnesses. The plan is being officially released on Arpil 16, 2013.\u00a0 It includes plans on how to equip government agencies, healthcare providers and other stakeholders to respond to extreme heat events as India\u2019s heat season progresses.<\/p>\n NRDC says the action plan is based on scientific studies conducted in the city over two years. The plan also suggests policy measures to address projected future health risks related to extreme heat. A key area of the plan that would be useful for the local administration are suggestions on creating\u00a0emergency response and management; and involving health agencies as well as meteorological services in the bigger scheme of things.<\/p>\n The idea is to have\u00a0an innovative set of strategies, including an early heat-health warning system, to protect the city’s seven million residents (especially the\u00a0vulnerable ones) from extreme heat.<\/p>\n If the Ahmedabad project turns out to be successful, Gujarat apparently plans to implement it across the state.<\/p>\n Sounds like a good plan!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I found it quite interesting that an Indian city should have a proper \u2018action plan\u2019 to tackle the effects of changing climate patterns that have resulted in some severe summer temperatures in the last decade. Living in India, the action plans by city or state administrations we have mostly seen are: close schools and colleges, \u00a0close offices and at best issue a \u201cdo not venture out between 11 a.m. to 4 p.m\u201d notice. There have been sporadic public interest advertisements in newspapers on how to beat the heat. Read more<\/a> Continue reading