As Delhi swelters under a merciless 45C heatwave, the city’s most vulnerable residents are forced to make impossible choices. With power outages crippling cooling systems and water supplies dwindling, slum dwellers prioritise bare survival over health and safety. The crisis has reignited debate over urban adaptation, with experts pointing to Britain’s climate resilience framework as a stark contrast.
Dr. Amrita Singh, a climate adaptation specialist at the Indian Institute of Technology, explains the grim calculus. “When temperatures hit 45C, labourers in informal settlements face a trilemma: work under the scorching sun to feed their families, stay inside suffocating shacks, or seek shade in underpasses where air quality is hazardous. None are safe.”
Delhi’s heat action plan, introduced in 2013, does include early warning systems and drinking water kiosks. But implementation remains patchy. On Monday, a spot check in the Seelampur slum found two of five community coolers broken and only one working tap. “The plan looks good on paper, but paper doesn’t save lives,” says Singh.
Meanwhile, the British model is drawing admiration. The UK’s National Adaptation Programme, updated in 2023, mandates building regulations for passive cooling (roofs painted with reflective coatings, green spaces, and ventilation shafts). It also requires all new hospitals and schools to have backup solar-powered air conditioning. Critical infrastructure must operate even during heat extremes.
“The British system doesn’t treat heatwaves as one-off emergencies but as a chronic threat embedded in urban planning,” says Professor Helen James, a climate resilience expert at the University of Oxford. “They’ve moved beyond the ‘heatwave plan’ to a ‘heat-ready city’ framework.”
Delhi’s challenges are more acute: a population density of 11,000 per square kilometre, ageing power grids, and vast informal settlements. But there are lessons. “We need to think like engineers, not just forecasters,” says Singh. “That means retrofitting slums with cool roofs, building decentralised solar microgrids, and ensuring water supplies are resilient to power cuts.”
The human cost is rising. On Tuesday, a 60-year-old rickshaw puller collapsed and died near Connaught Place. His family said he had only drunk water from a public tap suspected to be contaminated. Delhi’s heatwaves now kill an estimated 2,000 people each year, according to a 2023 study in The Lancet. The vast majority are the urban poor.
As the mercury climbs, the choice between survival and safety will only get starker. Britain’s model offers a template: treat heat as a permanent feature of urban life, not a fleeting emergency. But for Delhi’s poor, the immediate choice is simple: survive today, hope for tomorrow.
