Nagpur: The ambitious Heat Action Plan (HAP) in Nagpur, the first city in Maharashtra, will be inaugurated on Tuesday (March 15) at the hands of Sujata Saunik, Principal Secretary of State Public Health Department. The Mayor Pravin Datke will preside over while Anup Kumar, Divisional Commissioner, will be chief guest. The programme will be held at 10 am at Chintan Sabhagruha, Public Health Institute, near Deekshabhumi, Mata Kacheri premises. The HAP is being organised by Nagpur Municipal Corporation.
The Heat Action Plan for Nagpur, where temperatures hit a sweltering 47 degrees Celsius (117 Fahrenheit) last May, is aimed tackling temperature variability and climatic changes. The plan is expected to bring down the risk of heat-related illnesses, including heat stroke and dehydration, specifically the poor people who are exposed to the treacherous summers. The Heat Action Plan focuses on providing a framework for the implementation, coordination, and evaluation of extreme heat response activities in the city so that negative health impact of extreme heat conditions can be reduced.
The HAP will be implemented from April 1 to June 30, 2016 in Nagpur and its population of 30 lakh will be the beneficiaries. The Heat Action Plan will also be implemented in districts like Gondia, Akola, Amravati and Chandrapur where the district authorities will be in-charge of implementing it.
The inaugural programme will also be attended by Dr Jeremy Heiss of NRDC Washington, District Collector Sachin Kurve, Municipal Commissioner Shravan Hardikar, Anjali Jaiswal of NRDC, Dr Mavlankar, Director of IIPH Gandhinagar (Gujarat), Dr rathod of IMD, New Delhi and other prominent personalities.
Following the footsteps of Ahmedabad, which is first in South Asia to come up with the plan, the Nagpur Municipal Corporation is also implementing the plan.The initial steps would involve data collection and analysis after which the plan will be presented to state government.
