Thane Heat Action Plan: How the Civic Body Has Delivered a Mixed Bag

Heat Action Plan for Thane city was prepared in March 2024 with a motive of making it a heat-resilient smart city through reduced impacts of heatwaves. TMC has set up 25 water kiosks across the city to provide access to cool drinking water during the severe summer months. TMC has also instructed all its 33 health centers, 5 maternity homes, and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital to be fully equipped with cold rooms and stocks of medicines to treat heat-related illnesses effectively.  Here’s what we found:

Water Kiosks Set Up But Some Running Dry

Heat action plan suggests TMC to ensure clean drinking water facilities at common places such as bus stands, labour hubs, markets, parks, etc and open water kiosk at identified hot spot area/ place. Earthen pot kept at the Majiwada naka by the TMC had very less water mounting to just a single glass in the scorching heat of 38 degree Celsius. “Sometimes, the water runs out of stock. Some TMC people come here once in a day and fill it with Bisleri water. The water is not usually cold but it is quite helpful to the pedestrians to fill their thirst,” told a local shopkeeper to LokmatTimes.com. Water kiosk at Teen Hath Naka had adequate water but the place where it was kept was not well maintained. “It’s quite a good initiative by TMC to set a water kiosk near the bus- stop but they should fix a minor leakage problem,” told a pedestrian.

No Special Cold Rooms Set Up But Medicines to Cure Heat-Related Illnesses are Ready

Some of the TMC medical centers didn’t have special cold rooms as prescribed in the heat-action plan due to space constraints but have managed to set up a special bed and ORS corners for patients suffering from heat-related illnesses. Uthalsar healthcare centre requires a water cooler and nearly 4-5 cases of heat exhaustion have received primary treatment here. “We counsel the family members of the patients suffering from heat-related illnesses. At the non-communicable disease (NCD) corners, B.P and sugar level of the patients is checked. We have adequate numbers of paracetamol tablets, multi- vitamin supplements for to cure heat-related diseases,” told  Dr. Atul Mundra of TMC’s Uthalsar healthcare centre.

ORS Corners Set Up; Ice Packs Kept Ready

Wagle Estate and Mumbra ward areas have been identified as the most vulnerable to the heat effects in the early assessment by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW). “Temperatures are rising above 40 degree Celsius. Kausa-Mumbra is surrounded by  Parsik Hill, Ulhas river and Mumbra creek. There is a lot of congestion in the Kausa region. For an instance, if the temperature is 40 °C in Thane city, then it soars to 44 °C in Kausa. There are very few sources of ventilation available here,” told medical experts. “Recently, we received 10-12 cases of heat exhaustion. Some pregnant ladies were also facing heat-related illnesses. We treated these patients suing salines and ORS when the temperatures crossed 40 °C, “ informed Dr. Hemangi Ghode of the Kausa Heatlh Centre of the TMC. She stated that they increased the number of cooling equipment like fans in the OPD. “We have separate ORS corner in which there are more than 5000 packets of ORS stock. We have made 12- 15 ice-packs for patients who to deal with uneasiness,” she remarked.

Need More Frequency of Road Water Sprinkling 

TMC carries out sprinkling of water on roads, with a priority in identified at-risk wards from the heat risk assessment, to reduce heat impact and improve air quality. However, experts suggest that sprinkling water on roads will not significantly improve the Air Quality Index (AQI) unless it is done more frequently than the current weekly cleanliness drive.

Need for Increasing Sheltered Bus Stops and Green Covers

Thane's Heat Action Plan envisages increasing green cover, water ponds, promoting heat-resistant materials like cool roofs to mitigate urban heat island effect. While awareness drives through billboards and posters are underway, more sheltered bus stops are needed. However, with mid-May temperatures soaring, citizens expect the civic body to expedite implementation of the comprehensive plan to make Thane heat-resilient.