- India is a country considered hot, humid, and most of the times unpleasant during a few months of the year, especially summer. Especially northern, western, and eastern regions of the country are known for being extremely uncomfortable during peak summer months, making leading life a challenge. Ask people who call these regions home how peak summer months from April to June would be. The answer would be unequivocal. Miserable. That’s the word that comes to mind while describing the summer months in the above-mentioned regions. The oppressive heat combined with humidity makes one extremely uncomfortable, to say the least. Even several parts of southern India experience extreme heat as well. No escape from the misery, you see.
PC: Iberdrola
- Of course, the weather vagaries courtesy of rampant environmental degradation on the back of unbridled usage of greenhouse gases has simply singed the universe leading to rise in temperature over the decades. Summer 2025 will be no exception and is expected to be as severe if not more than, last year. The question on everyone’s mind is, have heat action plans kicked in? In 2024, the first heatwave hit East and South India on April 5. This year’s first heatwave hit Mumbai in February. Last year was the hottest year on record; 2025 is expected to set a new record for longer, more frequent, and more intense heat waves. It’s estimated that extreme heat could impact over 70% of India’s land area in a few decades.
PC: Mint
- We know that April- June is peak heat, but it’s the wet bulb phenomenon that ensures high power demand till September. Heatwaves majorly drive the spike in demand for cooling – 70% of which is met via fossil fuel generation to run the 10mn- 15mn new ACs India adds annually. A World Bank wonk noted India is set to become the world’s largest market for ACs – that by 2037, every 15 seconds, an air conditioner will be sold here. Yet, a telling data point: AC penetration in India is just 8%. This fact demands pause. Are we prepared? On the one hand, there’s the power demand – April – September 2024 was 6.1% higher than 2023; April to June 2024 demand rose by 10.4% – a third of the rise from increased use of air conditioning. Let’s see what the newspapers say.
PC: Quench
Parliament was told domestic coal stock stood at 53.2MT (as of March 18), sufficient for 20 days for a power plant to run. Per GOI, India is prepared to meet the summer 2025 peak power demand of 270GW, up from the 250GW met in 2024. On the other hand, what about the remaining 90% of households, their livestock, and pets? It is hoped that heat action plans in 23 states have rolled out – from regular clean-water supply to providing roadside shade and shelter, tweaking work hours, ensuring no loss of livelihood, providing protection from heat strokes to quick attention to myriad heat-related conditions. This is needed for those who work outdoors, from gig workers to airport ground staff and traffic cops, vendors, and street dwellers. Summer’s a bristling battle.
