As the heatwave in the country continues, street vendors in Mumbai adopt unique mitigation strategies to help them cope in difficult conditions.
Heat affects street vendors differently, depending on their business and work conditions. Pic credit: Gopal MS, Mumbai Paused
Rising temperatures have engulfed the country. On April 28th, Mumbai recorded the highest daily temperature at 37 degrees Celsius, creating unbearable circumstances for those uniquely vulnerable to the heat, particularly informal workers. The lack of a comprehensive Heat Action Plan (HAP) in the city is increasing the effects of the heatwave on the health of those directly exposed to the sun for long hours.
To be able to conduct their businesses, street vendors in Mumbai adapt to these conditions and find unique ways to cope with the heat. Citizen Matters spoke to different vendors to understand their methods.
A pattern among most vendors is the need to change their place of business frequently. Some do so to follow the shadows of trees, some are at the risk of eviction by civic authorities. The precarious nature of their work, coupled with the heatwave, are difficult circumstances and often cost them their regular customers. But monsoon is underway, and while for some vendors this means more havoc, for some, it is a time of profit.
Examining the heat island effect in densely built-up Garudachar Palya ward in Whitefield’s IT Hub, which also has limited tree cover.
Garudachar Palya is part of Mahadevapura constituency, with an area of 6.5 sq km, which includes four revenue villages — Garudachar Palya, Hoodi, Seegehalli, and Nallurahalli. These villages have stayed mostly the same, while the city has expanded around them with more organised development from the BDA. This mismatch has led to issues like narrow village lanes becoming crowded with traffic, as they’re now used as shortcuts to bypass main roads. Looking at population growth, between 2011 and 2024, the ward has seen an estimated increase of 62.24%. This rapid growth adds to the existing strain on infrastructure. Ward no…
Delhi’s Dwarka Forest has seen brazen destruction thanks to a railway redevelopment project. A recent SC stay order has raised hopes.
According to a recent World Bank report, India presently accounts for a meagre 1.8% of the global forest cover. Even more concerning is the fact that an enormous ‘46,759 acres of forest-land have been sanctioned for mining’ across the country, over the course of the last five years, by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) itself. According to many ace climate scientists and researchers, our planet has already hit “the tipping point”. In this backdrop, the people’s struggle to save Dwarka Forest, one of the last remaining natural forest lands in a choking capital city, is a…