Delhi Slum Heat Diaries Reveal 54C Ground Temperatures
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- 40 households in Sunder Nagri, a north-east Delhi slum, are keeping "garmi khata" heat registries this summer, documenting daily routines, work, mood, and family life as the city's heatwaves grow longer and more frequent
- Gulshan, a 39-year-old mother of four, washes her one-room floor several times nightly and dampens clothes before sleep; her family bought a desert cooler to cut energy costs, but the wet cloth is causing rashes and a skin infection
- Arshi, 19, earns roughly 150 rupees (£1.17) per day making decorative truck tassels with her mother and sister, occasionally visiting her Delhi University library for air conditioning before returning to their single, humid brick room
- Street vendor Raja, 21, sells vegetables at temperatures as high as 45°C in peak summer; community heat mapping by Sunder Nagri residents recorded ground temperatures exceeding 54°C (129°F) on streets where he works
- India Today satellite analysis found an average land-surface temperature of about 44°C in south-west Delhi's Mahipalpur district near the airport, compared with roughly 37°C just 3km away in the upmarket suburb of Vasant Kunj
- India's government added heatwaves to the list of nationally notified disasters on 4 August, allowing states to access emergency relief funds, though urban planner Aravind Unni warns cities lack administrative capacity for decentralized action
- Greenpeace India, which led the diary project, submitted the testimonies to the National Human Rights Commission and plans to share them with ministries and MPs, leveraging the Supreme Court's 2024 ruling that protection from the climate crisis forms part of the right to life
Why it matters: The 40 diaries convert heat exposure into human rights evidence for Delhi's slum residents and street vendors — populations that existing heat action plans overlook. India's 4 August addition of heatwaves to its nationally notified disaster list unlocks emergency relief funds, but a 7°C land-surface gap across 3km shows the burden falls unevenly.
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