Telangana prepares for heatwave while cities suffer

Hyderabad: Telangana govt has rolled out its ‘Heatwave Action Plan 2026' as the state braces for another intense summer, with several districts listed as highly vulnerable to heatwaves, including Adilabad, Nirmal, Jagtial, Kumuram Bheem Asifabad, Mancherial, Mulugu and others.The plan focuses on preparedness measures, including an early warning system with 1,091 automated weather stations, mandal-level monitoring, colour-coded alerts, three-day forecasts, TS-Weather mobile alerts and dissemination through SMS, WhatsApp and LED displays. It also proposes cooling centres in schools, community halls and bus stands, ‘chalivendrams' for drinking water and buttermilk, hospital preparedness with ORS and IV fluids, activation of ‘108' and ‘104' emergency services, and revised school and labour timings to avoid peak afternoon heat.While the govt has highlighted adaptation measures such as cool roof policies, rainwater harvesting and increasing green cover, the plan has drawn sharp criticism from environmentalists, climate researchers and urban planners, who argue that it barely addresses the root causes behind Telangana's worsening heat conditions."When you replace lakes with concrete and trees with buildings, you're not just changing the landscape, you're changing how the weather behaves locally. This trapped heat pushes temperatures up, which can in turn contribute to more convective activity, resulting in heavier downpours," Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, environmental scientist T V Ramachandra said. He added that excessive concretisation has led to erratic rainfall distribution, reduced groundwater recharge and worsening urban heat stress.Critics say Telangana's cities are now "baking under their own infrastructure", pointing to unchecked urbanisation, widening roads, shrinking lakes, falling groundwater levels and continuous loss of tree cover. They cite the recent removal of over 100 acres of greenery in Kancha Gachibowli and protests over tree felling near KBR National Park as examples of ecological concerns being sidelined for development projects."Every day, we receive calls of tree felling. The very districts that have been listed as highly vulnerable — Adilabad, Bhadradri Kothagudem, Kumuram Bheem Asifabad and Nirmal districts — all now witnessing intense heat conditions — have seen degradation of surrounding forest areas," Uday Krishna, an environmentalist from Vata Foundation, said.He further shared how districts such as Mulugu and Jayashankar Bhupalpally have reported increasing encroachments into continuous forest stretches, while Hyderabad and Rangareddy have steadily replaced natural landscapes with layouts, roads and commercial infrastructure. "There are also recently approved road projects through Eturnagaram Wildlife Sanctuary and diversion of forest lands in Nalgonda and Nagarkurnool districts for reservoir projects. Lesser trees mean lesser shade and lesser evapotranspiration. Land heats up faster, nights remain warmer and heatwaves intensify," he added.Experts warn that the consequences extend beyond heat alone. According to National Remote Sensing Centre (NSRC) data, nearly 67% of rainwater in urban areas now escapes as surface runoff instead of percolating into the soil, worsening both water scarcity and urban flooding.Scientists say these local changes were unfolding alongside larger climate shifts. Professor Anjal Prakash, author with Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and research director at Bharti Institute of Public Policy, ISB, said rising greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, industrialisation and vehicular pollution are contributing to warming land and sea temperatures. He also shared that this is also the reason we are seeing erratic rainfall patterns, which hints at a broader climate change issue.Experts caution that without significant intervention, such weather trends may become the new normal. "This is a wake-up call for both policymakers and citizens," said G Sailu, environmental scientist with Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change. "We need urban planning that factors in climate resilience, reviving lakes, increasing green cover, and preparing infrastructure for more volatile weather."Unless governments address forest diversion, lake encroachments and unsustainable urban growth, adaptation measures alone may offer only temporary relief. "The state is simultaneously announcing heat mitigation plans while clearing green cover for roads, layouts and reservoirs. That contradiction itself explains why every summer is becoming harsher than the last," Sailu said.