“The Gujarat government is considering scaling up the air pollution market and introducing it to other cities, including Ahmedabad. However, replicating this model in other states could be challenging” – Annanya Mahajan spoke to Mongabay India on how trading emissions can help cut air pollution effectively. “The market is currently focused on PM (particular matter) trading. Air pollution comprises gaseous pollutants in addition to particulate matter, so such a framework would have to be put in place for other dangerous gaseous pollutants too. All of this will be contingent on building a continuous emissions monitoring system (CEMS) that has transparent data and functions well”, she added.

“Heat is a creeping disaster – unlike floods or earthquakes, it builds slowly and impacts multiple sectors at once. Managing it requires strong coordination across departments and levels of government. The HAP must act as a clear blueprint, with nodal officers and defined responsibilities to ensure a timely, multi-agency response” – Ishan Kukreti spoke to Newslaundry on the recently released Heat Action Plan (HAP) of the Delhi government. “There are good measures in the HAP, but without legal authority and dedicated funding, it’s just a loose set of suggestions”, he added.

“Many Heat Action Plans (HAPs) rely heavily on directives issued during emergencies by disaster management and health authorities. The long-term institutionalisation of HAPs is weak across cities. Measures such as creating shaded rest areas, rooftop solar panels for cooling and increasing urban green cover are not consistently implemented in the most exposed communities” – Business Standard quoted SFC’s latest report on assessing heat action implementation in 9 Indian cities.

“Heat, while recognised as a problem, doesn’t usually trigger calls for policy changes until its health or economic impacts are already felt. To mitigate this, we need to focus on capacity-building within vulnerable sectors, like gig workers and street vendors” – Aditya Valiathan Pillai was quoted in Deccan Chronicle on the importance of integrating heat resilience into urban planning.

“Among key recommendations to combat extreme heat: expand access to cooling for heat-exposed populations, develop insurance mechanisms for heat-related income loss, improve fire response systems, and upgrade power infrastructure to cope with peak summer demand” – SFC’s latest report discussing long-term responses to extreme heat in India was mentioned in Policy Circle.

The need is to “make cooling available to the most heat-exposed, developing insurance cover for lost work, expanding fire management services and retrofitting electricity grids” – SFC’s recent report on assessing heat action implementation in 9 Indian cities was quoted in The Indian Express.

“Heat action was primarily driven by rapid response guidelines (such as emergency response letters or orders) issued by state or central authorities. For example, the health ministry instructed states to ensure ORS availability and set up heatstroke rooms in hospitals, while the education department directed states to close schools”, Tamanna Dalal talked to The Federal about how governments were focused on short-term responses to heat instead of long-term preventative measures.

“Many people died from heatwaves last year in Delhi. We do not know the actual exposures to heat and vulnerabilities that led to their death. We need to understand these details and incorporate them into the planning of heat action plans,” Aditya Valiathan Pillai was quoted in The Hindu.

“What is preventing the Indian government from strengthening and operationalising its HAPs? The SFC report highlighted some barriers that hinder the country from fully implementing effective HAPs: coordination failure, lack of legal mandate, competing priorities, not recognising heat as an issue.” – The New Indian Express quotes our latest report assessing the implementation of heat actions in India.

“Where countries are very seriously lagging are longer, broader structural changes that can help reduce heat risks. The reason that’s important is we have a situation on our hands where the heat is only going to get worse. So everything we’re discovering now is only getting worse in a 1.5 degree world”, Aditya Valiathan Pillai spoke to Esau Williams in an episode of ‘WORLD: we got this’ on the theme, Too Hot to Live.

“When you add in the impact of increased heat and ozone in the coming decades on various other sectors, including agricultural output, labour productivity, housing concerns and rising demand for cooling, you begin to see that there is no real way to address this problem until we begin to think about climate, energy, air quality and sectoral actions in synergistic ways”, Bhargav Krishna spoke to Down to Earth on the complex and interconnected challenges of reducing India’s air pollution while managing rising heat risks.

“The short-term rapid response guidelines currently being implemented in various States are inadequate and fail to address the full scope of the challenges posed by extreme heat events, the SFC study noted. These guidelines need to be more comprehensive and better tailored to effectively manage and mitigate the impact of heatwaves and related risks”, Tamanna Dalal was quoted in The Hindu.

“Addressing extreme heat requires long-term investment in climate adaptation, infrastructure, such as better cooling systems, heat-resistant building materials, or changes in agricultural practices, and public health initiatives. These are complex issues that require cross-party consensus and coordinated action across multiple levels of government”, Patralekha Chatterjee quotes SFC’s new report in her op-ed piece in Deccan Chronicle.

Current heat action is reactive, focusing on emergency measures like distributing ORS and water during heatwaves. We need to go beyond this. Greening cities, building heat-resilient infrastructure, and protecting workers should be the focus of a long-term action plan”, Aditya Valiathan Pillai spoke to Govind Ethiraj, from The Core.

“The study on heat action in cities facing a future of heat found that long-term action to mitigate heat impacts crumbled when they required coordination between different departments”. Our new report ‘Is India Ready for a Warming World? How Heat Resilience Measures Are Being Implemented for 11% of India’s Urban Population in Some of Its Most At-Risk Cities’ on heat actions finds that current strategies focus on “reactive measures,” lacks the multi-sectoral support needed for lasting solutions, covered in Mongabay India.

Our new report, which examines how heat resilience measures are being implemented in nine Indian cities, is featured in the Indian Express Explained section.

Our new report ‘Is India Ready for a Warming World? How Heat Resilience Measures Are Being Implemented for 11% of India’s Urban Population in Some of Its Most At-Risk Cities’ covered in News Karnataka.

एसएफसी की नई रिपोर्ट के अनुसार, भारत के नौ प्रमुख शहर बढ़ती भीषण गर्मी से निपटने में कमजोर साबित हो रहे हैं। अल्पकालिक उपाय जैसे पानी की उपलब्धता और कार्य समय में बदलाव किए जाते हैं, लेकिन दीर्घकालिक समाधान या तो नदारद हैं या बेहद कमजोर हैं। गर्मी के प्रति सबसे संवेदनशील आबादी के लिए ठंडक सुनिश्चित करने, शहरी नियोजन में सुधार और बिजली आपूर्ति को मजबूत करने जैसे कदमों की भारी कमी है। सरकारी नीतियों और संस्थागत तालमेल की कमजोरियों के कारण दीर्घकालिक समाधान लागू नहीं हो पा रहे, जिससे भविष्य में मौतों और आर्थिक क्षति की आशंका बढ़ रही है। रिपोर्ट में सुझाव दिया गया है कि शहरों को तत्काल प्रभावी योजनाओं पर काम करना चाहिए। इस रिपोर्ट को दैनिक जागरण ने कवर किया है।

The Times Of India covers our new study, ‘Is India Ready for a Warming World? How Heat Resilience Measures Are Being Implemented for 11% of India’s Urban Population in Some of Its Most At-Risk Cities’: “Nine Indian cities including Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore focus on immediate responses to heatwaves, long term interventions remain scarce, and are inadequately targeted”.

Our new study ‘Is India Ready for a Warming World? How Heat Resilience Measures Are Being Implemented for 11% of India’s Urban Population in Some of Its Most At-Risk Cities’ covered in The Hindu.

NEW Podcast: Aman Srivastava & Easwaran J Narassimhan talk about all things climate policy in ‘Is Climate Change Your Concern’. They propose FOUR areas where more research and policy focus are needed: modelling low-carbon pathways, mainstreaming climate into institutional frameworks, implementing green industrial policy packages, and securing appropriate financing mechanisms.

“They were part of a handful of sensors in many developing countries and served as a reference for understanding what air quality was like. They were also a well-calibrated and unbiased source of data to cross-check local data if there were concerns about quality”, Bhargav Krishna commented on the loss as the US stops sharing air quality data from embassies worldwide.

Building more coal-based blast furnaces make it more difficult for India to export its steel in the future, particularly to Europe, Easwaran Narassimhan was quoted in The Associated Press. “China’s steel production is less emissions-intensive, which means it’s going to face a lesser impact from European carbon taxes. Any amount of short-term pain today is going to be worth in the long run” – he added.

At the National Disaster Management Authority’s national workshop on heatwaves 2025, Aditya Valiathan Pillai emphasised the need for structural change in heatwave management, pointing out that city planners often neglect to include heat in their planning, instead treating it as a risk for health and disaster management to address once a heatwave hits.

“Politicians should acknowledge that this cannot be solved with quick fixes like smog towers, they need to develop a 5-year strategy to equip regulators with technical expertise to reduce the impact of the most toxic sources and chart progress with sound science” – Bhargav Krishna talks to the Hindustan Times

“The expectation is that they will self-regulate, but we know well that asking industries to do so is not necessarily the best idea” – Bhargav Krishna on exemption of dual approvals for polluting industries to set up operations.

“From missing a day at work to developing chronic illnesses, the health costs associated with that, to premature death and the impact that has on the family of the person”, Bhargav Krishna explained the costs adding up in every phase during smog season in India to France 24 (AFP).

“We need to tear off the Band-Aid and tackle the wound underneath, to fix the structural issues, if we ever want India to breathe clean air again.” Bhargav Krishna in The Guardian.

“Schools are shut down so children are less likely to be exposed to air pollution but who knows what they are exposed to at home? For the vast majority of people who work in Delhi, there is no option of working from home. They cannot afford an air purifier. We are really reliant on the government to execute effectively the policies laid out” – Bhargav Krishna speaks to BBC World on how air pollution directly affects the vulnerable.

“Stricter norms around emissions from power plants, enhancing public transport in Delhi, a lot more political participation from people across classes, and holding local authorities accountable” – Anannya Mahajan on the BBC World on possible solutions to NCR’s air pollution.

“PM2.5 is closely linked to severe health conditions, including heart attacks, strokes, and chronic lung diseases, as highlighted by evidence from India. The impacts of air pollution have a lifelong imprint on human health.” Bhargav Krishna spoke on Ravish Kumar’s show ‘आज भी AQI 500 है, कहां भाग कर जाएं लोग, दूसरे शहर भी बेहाल’.

“You feel like everything around you is burning in some way, and that smoke is palpable at all times” – Bhargav Krishna speaks to Diaa Hadid, from NPR on rising smog levels in Delhi.

“We need to look at our forecasts, which are not accurate, and how they feed into proactive implementation of GRAP. We also need to know what means of review CAQM undertakes to ensure continuous improvement in its process” – Bhargav Krishna was quoted in Hindustan Times.

“The focus on crop residue burning which seasonally occurs for 2 weeks every year only contributes to 15-20% of Delhi’s air pollution, and annually roughly 3-5%, is taking away focus from all the other reasons- local transport emissions, industries, waste burning sources etc” – Bhargav Krishna on rising air pollution levels in Delhi.

भार्गव कृष्णा कहते हैं कि वायु प्रदूषण के लिए सबसे ज्यादा पराली पर चर्चा होती है, पर हकीकत ये है कि अगर हम पूरे साल में वायु प्रदूषण की बात करें तो पराली की हिस्सेदारी औसतन पांच फीसदी से ज्यादा नहीं है। हवा में 20 फीसदी से ज्यादा प्रदूषण ट्रांसपोर्ट, इंडस्ट्री, पावर प्लांट और आसपास के शहरों से आता है।

“A daily exposure of 15ug/m3 PM2.5 is considered acceptable by the WHO. On a good day in Delhi, we see maybe 5 times that.” Bhargav Krishna was on BBC World to talk about a new study in The Lancet co-authored with Jeroen de Bont, Poornima Prabhakaran, Petter Ljungman, Joel Schwartz and others.

ndia has a fairly high threshold for what can be classified as a heat-related death, Bhargav Krishna in Bloomberg. Impacted families may be “eligible for certain compensation” which can result in physicians being “more conservative in declaring a heat death,” he added

द लैंसेट प्लैनेटरी हेल्थ में प्रकाशित एक हालिया अध्ययन में बताया गया है कि भारत में वायु प्रदूषण ने लोगों के स्वास्थ्य को किस तरह प्रभावित किया है. ईटीवी भारत के शंकरनारायणन सुदलाई के साथ एक विशेष साक्षात्कार में, लैंसेट अध्ययन के लेखक, जाने-माने पर्यावरणविद् भार्गव कृष्ण ने कहा कि यह कम प्रदूषित माने जाने वाले शहरों में अल्पकालिक वायु प्रदूषण के संपर्क से होने वाली मृत्यु दर पर अपनी तरह का पहला शोध है. उन्होंने यह भी बताया कि भारत में मौजूदा परिवेशी वायु गुणवत्ता मानकों पर फिर से विचार करने की आवश्यकता क्यों है.

“Building a smog tower or a seawall will gain (immediate) political benefits, but will that seawall save a city during coastal floods in the future? That’s the political conundrum at the heart of climate adaptation.” Aditya Valiathan Pillai said.

காற்று மாசு குறித்த லான்சட் பிளானட்டரி ஹெல்த் ஸ்டடி ரிப்போர்ட் என்ற (Lancet Planetary Health study report) சமீபத்திய ஆய்வறிக்கை காற்று மாசினால் இந்தியாவில் ஆண்டுக்கு 33,000 பேர் மரணமடைவதாக எச்சரித்துள்ளது. சென்னையைப் பொறுத்தவரையிலும் கடலோரத்தில் இருக்கும் நகரம் என்பதால் காற்று மாசுபாட்டின் தாக்கத்தை நம்மால் உணர முடியிவில்லை என்கிறார் இந்த ஆய்வுக்கட்டுரையின் முதன்மை ஆசிரியர் முனைவர் பார்கவ் கிருஷ்ணா. ஈடிவி பாரத் தமிழ்நாடு ஆசிரியர் சங்கரநாராயணன் சுடலை-க்கு அவர் அளித்த பேட்டியின் சுருக்கத்தினை இந்த கட்டுரையில் பார்க்கலாம்.

Watch: Bhargav Krishna on NDTV’s ‘Left, Right & Centre’ on his study in The Lancet – “India needs to set a long-term goal of aligning more closely with WHO air quality guidelines. Currently, even cities meeting national standards are seeing a significant number of deaths, underscoring the need to strengthen our standards and redouble action.”

Across 10 cities — Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, Shimla and Varanasi — more than 33,000 deaths could be attributed to air pollution every year on an average, study, co-authored by Bhargav Krishna, said.

Report in The Lancet, co-authored by Bhargav Krishna, found that across 10 major cities in India — Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, Shimla, and Varanasi – around 33,000 deaths every year are attributable to PM 2.5 pollution levels

যে ১০টি শহরে বায়ু দূষণের কারণে মৃত্যুর ঘটনা ঘটছে, সেই তালিকায় রয়েছে আহমেদাবাদ, বেঙ্গালুরু, চেন্নাই, দিল্লি, হায়দরাবাদ, কলকাতা, মুম্বই, পুনে, সিমলা, বারাণসী। সমীক্ষায় দাবি করা হয়েছে যে, বায়ু দূষণের কারণে মৃত্যুর নিরিখে ওই ১০ শহরের তালিকায় শীর্ষে রয়েছে দিল্লি।

दिल्ली (Deaths due to air pollution in Delhi) में सर्दी का मौसम आते ही वायु प्रदूषण की समस्या बढ़ जाती है। एक रिसर्च में चौंकाने वाली रिपोर्ट आई है। इस शोध के मुताबिक राजधानी में हर साल करीब 12 हजार लोगों की जान वायु प्रदूषण के कारण हुई। इस आंकड़े को और आसानी से समझे तो 100 में से लगभग 12 लोगों की मौत खराब हवा के कारण होती है।

Delhi had about 12,000 deaths per year, while the lowest rate among the 10 cities surveyed is Shimla, with 59 deaths per year between 2008-19 – a study in The Lancet Planetary Health, co-authored by Bhargav Krishna, found.

Recording accurate and comprehensive information is the backbone of good climate policy. Without highly localized warnings, for example, people do not have the information that allows them to take precautions – Aditya Valiathan Pillai in Bloomberg.

The work of effectively targeting vulnerable groups begins with making it a government mandate to compensate for the loss of work hours from heat stress, said Aditya Valiathan Pillai.

“You need to sit down with three data sets—income, electricity and water provision—and see where those are lowest. That’s where you need to go.” Aditya Valiathan Pillai on planning responses to deaths due to heat in India.

In the New York Times, Aditya Valiathan Pillai outlines how to ensure key elements of the democratic process such as election rallies and voting continue in a hotter, climate-stressed world : information on real-time local temperatures with color-coded risk levels, water stations, shade and cooling centers, and early warnings about heat.

“The nature, quantity, and intensity of the heat we experience today is going to change every year, and it seems we have underestimated how rapidly these changes will escalate. Ultimately, managing heat is a question about how we should structure our societies.” – Aditya Valiathan Pillai on The Times of India podcast.

“In India, there is a massive black hole in understanding heatwave deaths and illnesses.” – Aditya Valiathan Pillai on NPR’s Morning Edition program.

“There is a long way to go in developing the next generation of heat action plans that are actually focused on implementability.” – Aditya Valiathan Pillai in part two of the Economic Times Morning Brief podcast on India’s extreme heat.

Heat is something that affects every social group in this country and every part of this country in terms of geography – Aditya Valiathan Pillai talked to The Economic Times Morning Brief podcast on the impacts of heatwaves. (Part one of a two-part series)

“There is a real opportunity for the new government to radically rethink its strategy by doubling down on renewable energy and storage rather than on investments in new, uneconomic and unreliable coal plants.” Ashwini Swain is quoted.

“Focusing through evidence syntheses on narrow and concrete climate policies may crowd out attention to broader policies that are harder to categorize but may be used more in developing countries”. Navroz K Dubash is quoted.

“The heat action plan (HAP) is a guidance document. However, it needs to be financed and monitored to ensure effective implementation. The plan also needs to be notified under some act or law so that it has more weight and measures recommended are implemented properly” – Aditya Valiathan Pillai on Delhi’s HAP.

Shibani Ghosh talks about her experience as an environmental lawyer, the significance of the right against adverse effects of climate change, the need for an umbrella climate law for India, and more. “How do we make a climate law that is more enabling than regulatory?” – she discussed.

Suravee Nayak talks about on the need to address the larger developmental problem of coal geographies by building communities’ capacities – from education to employment – so they can have alternative, sustainable livelihoods.

“Policy emphasis on ‘resource adequacy’ comes from a long history of scarcity in Indian electricity and leads to a perception that to meet higher demand we need to add more.” – Ashwini Swain says in the article.

In Economic Times Morning Brief podcast, Shibani Ghosh spoke about the Supreme Court recognising the right against the adverse effects of climate change as a fundamental right and on climate litigation in India.

Aditya Valiathan Pillai on elections in extreme heat: Having the right infrastructure (cooling centers, shade provision, etc.) is important, but it must be integrated into India’s long-term heat planning so that come election time, “it doesn’t take away the possibility of political life and prevent democratic participation.”

“It is important for political parties and district administration to know the localised temperature within a maidan or a polling centre and communicate that to local residents instead of relying on the nearest weather station which could be several kilometres away,” Aditya Valiathan Pillai said.

Aditya Valiathan Pillai discussed the impacts of extreme heat on various vulnerable groups, why heatwaves are a public policy concern, and how we can combat them effectively.

“Restarting a knowledge sharing platform across South Asia would be a useful first step in acknowledging and addressing transboundary air pollution” – Bhargav Krishna is quoted.

There are two perspectives to consider when approaching systems thinking in the context of the climate emergency—the physical perspective and the transition perspective, Aman Srivastava said.

Navroz K Dubash discussed the COP28 declaration, which calls on countries to “transition away” from fossil fuels.

The commission to help manage air quality in New Delhi and the surrounding regions can direct states to take very specific actions that reduce pollution. But it’s chosen not to utilize the full range of its powers, Bhargav Krishna said.

Navroz K Dubash talked about international climate talks and COP28 as well as India’s role in it.

Bhargav Krishna talked about the impact air pollution in India is having on people’s health.