HEAT-PROOFING INDIA
https://www.science.org/content/article/ferociously-hot-weather-could-make-some-cities-unlivable-low-tech-solutions-can-help
Excerpt: MUMBAI, INDIA ...Before the monsoon rains arrive, temperatures can top 37°C, with humidity at a sweltering 95%. ...Sometimes, Mumbai’s heat becomes deadly. In April, on a day the temperature reached 36°C, 11 people sitting through an hourslong outdoor ceremony died from heat stroke. At least 20 others were hospitalized. ...It wasn’t until 2015 that officials designated heat waves as a natural disaster at the national level. ...heat action plans, or HAPs, have been proliferating in India in the past few years. In general, an HAP spells out when and how officials should issue heat warnings and alert hospitals and other institutions. ...IN THE LONG RUN, cooling India’s cities will mean changing the way they are built. One possibility is to look to the past, when structures were designed to insulate people from their local climates. ...In Nagpur, Kotharkar likes to show her students—and visiting reporters—a one-story, 300-year-old mansion in Mahal. It is built of brick, stone, and wood, not the concrete and plastics that make nearby modern apartment blocks absorb and radiate heat. The walls are thick, delaying heat gain. ...FOR MANY LOW-INCOME Indians living in cities, the possibility of moving to a newly constructed, climate-resilient residence is remote. That is why some groups are retrofitting existing homes. The most popular retrofit involves covering roofs with white reflective paint....