New Research: The State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA), Uttar Pradesh, India establishes heatwave threshold for all 75 districts

Description

The State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) conducted a comprehensive study in which experts analysed temperature patterns since 1982, spanning 42 years, to develop a three-tier heatwave alert system: yellow, orange and red. The heat thresholds range from 36.7°C to 40.58°C for yellow alert, 39.09°C to 43.30°C for orange alerts, and 41.48°C to 45.34°C for red alert in Uttar Pradesh districts. “It is essential to shape effective policies to safeguard public health, optimise agriculture, and urban planning,” said Lt General Yogendra Dimri, vice-chairman of SDMA.

Those who played a key role in the study include Dr Kashif Imdad, advisor, UPSDMA, Lucknow, Dr Mehebub Sahana, Dr Aarti Krishnan and Dr Upasak Das (all three of the University of Manchester, United Kingdom) and Dr Bhanu Mall, advisor, UPSDMA, Lucknow.

Specific temperature metrics used to declare the occurrence of a heatwave.