Tracing Greenpeace India’s Relentless Push for Heatwave Justice
In 2025, summer time is arriving within the Indian subcontinent not with sunshine however with a vengeance. Heatwaves have already swept by means of Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Goa in March. The Indian Meteorological Division (IMD) has warned of “double the heatwave” in Northwest India—and now, Delhi is already proving that true. A yellow alert is in place, with temperatures anticipated to succeed in as much as 42°C between April 7 and 13—weeks forward of the standard peak warmth.
By Might, the northern plains might be akin to a furnace.
The state has issued early warnings. The air has began to shimmer. How lengthy until the birds drop from the skies? Until the flowers in your backyard dry up? How lengthy until the primary life is misplaced to this warmth?
Many heatwave-related deaths go unreported, misattributed to coronary heart assaults, strokes, or dehydration. The invisibility and underreporting of heatwave deaths result in inaction. Heatwaves are not uncommon anomalies; they’re predictable catastrophes. Yearly, temperatures shatter information, abandoning a path of misplaced lives, burned houses, and destroyed livelihoods. These struggling probably the most are those already on the margins—road distributors braving the noon solar, farmers watching their crops flip to mud, and girls strolling miles for water.
But, the federal government’s recognition of heatwaves as a catastrophe stays insufficient. Every collapse is preventable. Every chicken gasping for water, every employee struggling underneath the solar—it’s a disaster unfolding in plain sight.
However this doesn’t must be a tragedy.
We are able to nonetheless hope.
We are able to nonetheless construct solidarity.
And that is our name to motion.
Melting Futures: Act Earlier than We Soften Away
On a scorching Might afternoon in Delhi final yr, an ice sculpture stood tall at Choose Metropolis Mall, Saket, New Delhi. Because the solar blazed down, the sculpture melted away, visually underscoring a grim actuality: India’s rising heatwaves will not be simply seasonal discomforts however life-threatening crises that disproportionately influence marginalised communities, and the federal government should act now.
This marketing campaign sparked a bigger motion—months of storytelling, advocacy, and activism—resulting in actual political traction.
Because the ice sculpture melted, a brand new wave of storytelling emerged. One which turned loss into reminiscence, and reminiscence into motion.
Museum of Recollections: Tales of Loss and Resilience
Museum of Recollections emerges as an exhibition area to hearken to those that have met with the disastrous penalties of local weather calamities. Enclosed inside are tales collected immediately from people, households, and communities disproportionately affected by the acute climate occasions in India.
If Melting Futures was a name to motion, Museum of Recollections was a reminder of what’s already misplaced. The exhibit displayed over 50 actual objects every carrying a narrative of devastation and resilience.
One such story is that of Sarovar.
Sarovar Yadav nonetheless remembers the summer time of 2023. The solar hung heavy over his farm in Bihar, a relentless power that drained the life from his fields. First got here the drought, then the insufferable warmth. His crops withered. His cows collapsed. When the final of his cattle died, he held onto the rope that after tethered them, a painful reminder of every part he had misplaced.
Every object right here has a narrative of loss and resilience embedded inside it. These objects will not be simply relics. They’re witnesses to loss that ought to by no means have occurred. Every one is a name for justice. Behind each quantity in a headline lies a narrative—of affection, of longing, of deep and preventable ache. You solely have to look nearer. And you will need to select to reply.
Shifting the Narrative: From Climate Studies to Systemic Accountability
In 2024, we noticed a tangible shift in how heatwaves have been reported in India and globally. Newsrooms moved past temperature updates to critically look at the systemic failures that left communities defenceless. Some notable highlights embrace our joint survey with the Nationwide Hawkers Federation was featured in Frontline, highlighting revenue loss and well being dangers confronted by Delhi’s road distributors. Al Jazeera uncovered the brutal circumstances gig staff endure with little to no safety. In the meantime, The New Indian Express centred on girls distributors, revealing how heatwaves deepen current gender and caste inequalities.
Our media engagement ensured that heatwaves have been not framed as acts of nature however as penalties of local weather inaction. From on-ground reporting in casual settlements to op-eds by affected staff, we noticed a rise in protection demanding accountability.
Warmth Havoc: The Battle for Recognition
Numbers make struggling seen to these in energy. Greenpeace India, in collaboration with the Nationwide Hawkers Federation, launched Warmth Havoc: Investigating the Influence on Avenue Distributors, a report capturing the experiences of over 700 road distributors struggling underneath the relentless warmth.
The findings have been plain: excessive warmth was robbing livelihoods, worsening inequality, and pushing probably the most susceptible to the brink. Armed with this information, we took the struggle to policymakers. The demand was clear—declare heatwaves a nationwide catastrophe.
A Breakthrough: Parliament Takes Discover
After which, one thing shifted. After months of stress, individuals’s tales, information, and media protection reached the halls of Parliament.
A parliamentary committee recommended that heatwaves be officially recognised as a national disaster, marking a big coverage breakthrough. This wasn’t simply acknowledgement—it was a step towards systemic motion, towards insurance policies that might save lives.
This milestone strengthens our marketing campaign as we push for formal recognition and stronger response mechanisms.
What’s Subsequent? The Battle Continues. Let’s RISE!
The warmth will return. It can deliver new information and new tragedies. However this time, we’re nearer to alter.
Selomi Garnaik, Campaigner at Greenpeace India, emphasised the shift from consciousness to motion in 2025. “This yr, we flip urgency into change with Delhi Rising—we’re organising cooling areas, hydration camps, and constructing neighborhood resilience. Whereas we made the hidden impacts of utmost warmth unimaginable to disregard final yr, acknowledgement isn’t sufficient—we’d like heatwaves declared a nationwide catastrophe, a devoted warmth funds, and legally binding targets.”
The motion doesn’t finish right here. We demand insurance policies that defend lives, guarantee aid reaches those that want it most and power systemic motion towards excessive warmth. However whereas we maintain the state accountable, we should act too—leaving water out for birds and animals, providing fluids to outside staff, checking in on neighbours, and standing in solidarity with these on the frontlines of this disaster.
The ice could have melted, however the struggle burns brighter than ever. The warmth will arrive with a vengeance and we’re gearing up for it by kicking off DELHI RISING—a people-powered marketing campaign to struggle excessive warmth with hope, care, braveness, and neighborhood—and you can begin the motion in your metropolis, one act of aid at a time. Keep tuned, keep hydrated! #DelhiRising
Writer
Empty (they/them) is a Communications Guide with Greenpeace India. They’re a author and researcher specializing in the intersections of local weather and social justice. They write on queer and gender politics as nicely.
References:
- Livemint. (2024, February 24). IMD alert: Yellow warning for Mumbai, Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Konkan districts on Feb 25-26; unusually excessive temperature of 37°C. https://www.livemint.com/news/india/imd-alert-yellow-warning-mumbai-thane-raigad-ratnagiri-konkan-districts-feb-25-26-unually-high-temperature-37-degrees-c-11740454282645.html
- Instances of India. (2024, March 25). India braces for intense summer time; heatwave days to double in a number of states, says IMD. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/india-braces-for-intense-summer-heatwave-days-to-double-in-several-states-says-imd/articleshow/119809490.cms
- The Hindu. (2024, April 5). India is probably going undercounting warmth deaths, affecting its response to more and more harsh warmth waves. https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/india-is-likely-undercounting-heat-deaths-affecting-its-response-to-increasingly-harsh-heat-waves/article68366495.ece
- The Financial Instances. (2024, March 14). Embody heatwaves in catastrophe administration plans, Parliamentary panel tells Centre. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/include-heatwaves-in-disaster-management-plans-parliamentary-panel-tells-centre/articleshow/119202958.cms
