A blistering heatwave has pushed Delhi past 45 degrees Celsius, turning the Indian capital into a furnace for its most vulnerable residents. For the city’s poor, living in cramped slums without reliable electricity or running water, the extreme temperatures are not merely uncomfortable; they are a lethal threat. This crisis, however, is not just a local tragedy. It is a stark warning to the entire world about the fragility of our infrastructure in the face of climate change.
Delhi’s wealthy can retreat into air-conditioned homes, cars, and offices. But for the millions in unauthorised colonies and resettlement colonies, survival depends on access to cool water, shade, and electricity for fans. When blackouts hit, as they inevitably do, these lifelines vanish. Hospitals report a surge in heatstroke cases, with the elderly and children most at risk. The informal workers who build our cities, rickshaw pullers, construction labourers, street vendors, have no choice but to continue labouring under the scorching sun.
This is a user experience failure of the highest order. Our cities were designed for a climate that no longer exists. The concrete jungle exacerbates the urban heat island effect, trapping heat and raising nighttime temperatures, offering no respite. The infrastructure gaps are not a bug; they are a feature of systems built on inequality. When we talk about ‘smart cities’, we must ask: smart for whom? A city with gigabit internet but no shade for its poorest is not smart. It is a monument to neglect.
The implications stretch far beyond Delhi. As global temperatures rise, heatwaves become more frequent and intense. Cities from Phoenix to Jakarta will face similar pressures. The infrastructure required to withstand 50-degree days is not an optional upgrade; it is a necessity for societal continuity. This means investing in decentralised renewable energy to keep cooling systems running, developing passive cooling materials for buildings, and ensuring urban planning prioritises green spaces, water bodies, and affordable housing with adequate ventilation.
Silicon Valley has been enamoured with geoengineering moonshots, but the real innovation lies in deploying existing technology equitably. Cheap, efficient cooling solutions exist, but they are not reaching those who need them most. The digital divide is mirrored in an energy divide. Solar-powered microgrids, cool roofs, and water-efficient cooling towers are proven technologies. The gap is political will, not technological capability.
Quantum computing may eventually help model climate systems with unimaginable precision, but today we can use simpler AI to predict heatwave impacts and optimise resource allocation. Yet without a foundation of resilient infrastructure, these tools are useless. Digital sovereignty means nothing if the grid fails and your health data is useless while you suffer heatstroke.
The Black Mirror scenario here is not dystopian fiction. It is a world where the rich survive in climate-controlled bubbles while the rest perish. We must reject this future. Every government, every urban planner, every technologist must treat heat resilience as a fundamental right. Delhi’s poor are the canary in the coal mine. Their survival is a test of our collective humanity and intelligence. We have the tools. Do we have the conscience?
