Country can suffer extreme heat

Dear Editor,
According to reports rising heat and humidity could put up to five percent of India’s GDP at risk by the end of this decade. According to the report, India’s long-term food security and public health security will be dependent on a dependable cold chain network. Transporting food and pharmaceutical goods across India necessitates a cold chain refrigeration system that works at all times.A single temperature drop during the journey can disrupt the cold chain, spoiling fresh produce and reducing vaccine potency. With only four percent of fresh produce in India covered by cold chain facilities, annual food losses are estimated to be fifty billion it is noted that, prior to COVID-19, India, the world’s third largest producer of pharmaceuticals, lost approximately twenty percent of temperature-sensitive medical products and thirty percent of vaccines due to broken cold chains, resulting in losses of five hundred million rupees per year.The demand for cooling will increase as temperatures rise across India. However, in a country where two-thirds of the population lives on less than 500 rupees per day and the average cost of an air-conditioning unit ranges between five thousand rupees, air-cooling systems are a luxury only a few can afford. According to research presented in the India Cooling Action Plan only ten percent of Indian households own air conditioners. Indoor and electric fans can assist in maintaining thermal comfort, but they are also costly to purchase and inefficient. As a result, the report warns, many poor and marginalised communities across India are more vulnerable to extreme heat, living in inadequately ventilated, hot and crowded homes with no proper access to cooling. Staying cool in extreme heat is about more than just comfort; it can mean the difference between life and death.
VijayKumar H K
[email protected]
Raichur, Karnataka
Environmentalist