Assam's rising heat: A wake-up call to rethink our development model

With the State reeling under a heat wave and things made worse by reduced rainfall, the emerging developments raise serious concerns about our collective future. The State capital Guwahati and other towns continue to record temperatures higher than average for this time of the year, with Guwahati on Thursday recording 37.6 degrees Celsius, the fifth-highest maximum temperature for the month ever. Just a few days earlier, the highest-ever maximum temperature for July (38.4°C) was also recorded.

Worryingly, nine out of the top ten July temperatures experienced in Guwahati have occurred after 2018. Jorhat and Dibrugarh, too, broke their June maximum temperature records last month. All of this clearly indicates a perceptible change in weather patterns, as evidenced by the soaring mercury and reduced rainfall. The State Government has now contemplated a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and Heat Action Plan to cope with the rising temperatures.

At least 17 departments and agencies have been asked to prepare their own Assam-specific heat action plans, which are to be integrated into the broader Heat Action Plan for Assam. The Assam State Disaster Management Authority has also been instructed to create specific awareness material related to extreme heat.

While these are essential steps to ease the situation, particularly in evolving a mechanism to provide relief to people during the sweltering heat and establishing an emergency response system. What we truly need is long-term planning and implementation with utmost regard for preserving the natural environment.

Given that these emerging vagaries of nature are manifestations of climate change, our response must begin with acknowledging this harsh reality. No technology can shield us from oppressive heat unless we preserve and expand our natural spaces.

Developing climate-resilient agricultural practices and technologies, and launching massive afforestation initiatives, must be central to any climate action plan. Regrettably, what we are witnessing across the State is mindless, large-scale destruction of greenery, especially trees, under the pretext of development. This is sheer foolishness. This intrusive and in-sensitive development model must stop.

A development approach that is sustainable and largely in sync with environmental concerns must replace the thoughtless model currently pursued by the Government. While many States are undertaking massive afforestation drives in urban areas, Assam is turning into a heat chamber through our reckless acts of vandalism