By Avinash Singh, Head – Corporate Sustainability and Climate Adaptation, Sustainable Living Lab India, 2025

India faces a silent yet escalating public health emergency: extreme heat. In 2024 alone, more than 700 deaths were officially attributed to heat stress[1], with independent estimates suggesting far higher numbers due to under-reporting. Over 40,000 cases of heatstroke were reported across the country[2], underscoring the urgency of addressing this slow-onset disaster. Unlike floods or cyclones, heatwaves leave no visible trail of destruction, but their cumulative impact is far-reaching while eroding health, productivity, and human dignity.

The burden of heat stress disproportionately affects informal and marginalised communities, who often live and work in poorly ventilated spaces with limited access to cooling. However, contrary to the belief that cooling solutions are resource-intensive, nationwide field evidence demonstrates that community-driven, low-cost solutions can significantly reduce heat stress and improve lives.

Grassroots Innovations: Real Solutions from Real People

One example is the Mahila Housing Trust (MHT), a grassroots organisation empowering women in low-income urban settlements. By promoting ‘cool roofs’, a low-cost intervention where reflective roofing materials or white paint reduce indoor temperatures by 3–6°C. These seemingly simple solutions transformed heat-prone cities like Ahmedabad, Delhi, and more.[3] Now, home-based workers can sustain livelihoods, elderly residents experience fewer health issues, and children can study, sleep and grow in better, safer conditions.

At Sustainable Living Lab (a Bangalore-based climate innovation lab), our recent heat risk assessments in a textile factory in Kishangarh, Rajasthan, and an elderly care home in Pudukottai, Tamil Nadu, revealed the severe yet overlooked impact of heat. The severity of the on-ground conditions was apparent even before our WBGT (Wet Bulb Globe Temperature) readings confirmed hazardous heat levels. Without relying on expensive infrastructure, we recommended pragmatic, human-centred changes.

These include rescheduling work shifts to cooler hours, improving ventilation in rest areas, recommending lightweight uniforms and cooling vests, and establishing

hydration protocols. At the elderly care home, we found the hot air accumulate  during the day had nowhere to escape at night. Simply opening high windows near the ceiling enabled effective cross-ventilation and immediate thermal relief.

Sustainable Cooling: Comfort with a Conscience

Such practical measures highlight the core principle of sustainable cooling: achieving thermal comfort with minimal environmental impact. Passive cooling techniques like ventilation, shading, and thermal insulation can reduce reliance on air-conditioning by up to 80%.[4] Emerging innovations such as district cooling and Cooling-as-a-Service (CaaS) offer scalable, energy-efficient solutions. District cooling systems centralise cooling production in a central plant, serving multiple buildings, reducing energy use by up to 55%. CaaS offers cooling as a utility, allowing users to pay on demand without the upfront equipment cost.[5]

Cooling as a Public Good

Equitable cooling must be at the core of sustainable cooling efforts. Ensuring equitable access requires not only on-ground action but also a supportive policy framework. While the National Programme on Climate Change and Human Health (NPCCHH) and the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) have issued revised heat guidelines[6], implementation remains inconsistent, particularly in rural and informal sectors. Policies must mandate Heat Action Plans, subsidise adaptive retrofits, and set enforceable workplace cooling standards.

Climate adaptation is not just a technical challenge; it’s a social imperative. At Sustainable Living Lab, we have seen that the solutions to India’s heat crisis don’t lie in silver bullets, but in the collective action of communities, innovators, and policymakers working together. To safeguard lives and livelihoods for all, sustainable cooling must be treated as a public good. By embedding resilience into the fabric of where people live, work, and age, India has the opportunity and responsibility to lead the global response to extreme heat, ensuring inclusive and equitable protection for all.

[1] National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) & IMD, 2024 Heatwave Report Summary.

[2] “India Records 40,000+ Cases of Heatstroke in Summer 2024,” Scroll.in, July 2024.

[3] Mahila Housing Trust Cool Roofs Impact Report, 2023.

[4] Sustainable Cooling: How to cool the world without warming the planet. (2024). In the Asian Development Bank Institute eBooks. https://doi.org/10.56506/magr4101

[5] Cooling-as-a-Service https://www.caas-initiative.org/

[6] National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), “Heat-Related Illness Guidelines,” Updated 2023.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this piece are those of the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of AIDMI.