For India’s Informal Workers, Heatwaves Expose the Limits of the Labour Codes
Summers in much of India have always been tough, but what is happening now is far more severe. It is a public health emergency unfolding under the guise of a weather event. In recent years, temperatures have remained above 40°C for days at a stretch, leading to tens of thousands of suspected heatstroke cases across the country. And those who face the greatest risk are workers in the informal sector, who spend long hours outdoors and continue to lack strong, enforceable protections against extreme heat under India’s labour framework.
Heatwaves in India Are Becoming More Frequent and Dangerous: Report
A new study analysed the hottest continuous 15-day stretch between April 15 and April 29 in parts of India and Pakistan to determine how much climate change influenced the event. While studying it, the researchers found that such prolonged heat events are now about three times more likely to occur and nearly 1°C hotter in today’s climate than they were before large scale industrial warming.
When Nature Changes Its Rhythm, Communities Suffer
In Bhutan’s high Himalayan pastures, villagers say the alpine plants they’ve used for incense, medicine and fuel for generations are disappearing. But new ecological research shows that many of these plants are still growing, and some are now found in greater numbers. The study raises questions relevant not only in Bhutan but also in the mountains of India, Nepal and Tibet, where people depend on nature’s cycles, as well as across South Asia, where similar shifts are already underway.