The national capital of India is reeling under an unforgiving heatwave, with actual air temperatures crossing 45°C and the ‘real feel’ or heat index soaring to a blistering 51.9°C on Wednesday, according to a PTI report. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert, warning of severe health risks due to extreme heat exposure.
Amid this unprecedented heat emergency, a new kind of climate response is taking shape from the ground up. Informal workers across Delhi—including street vendors, gig workers, and labourers—are now frontline communicators of life-saving heat alerts, thanks to a community-driven collaboration between IMD and Greenpeace India’s Delhi Rising campaign.
With vendor networks among the most affected by the heat crisis, the campaign aims to build a grassroots early warning system, putting climate information directly in the hands of those most at risk.
What is ‘Real Feel’ Temperature?
Often called the heat index, ‘real feel’ temperature combines air temperature with humidity to measure how hot it actually feels to the human body. High humidity prevents sweat from evaporating effectively, making it much harder for the body to cool down. According to the US National Weather Service, a heat index of 51.9°C is classified under ‘extreme danger’—conditions in which heat stroke is highly likely with even minimal physical exertion or prolonged exposure.
This “feels like” heat is worsened by Delhi’s urban heat island effect, where concrete and asphalt surfaces trap and radiate heat well into the night, especially in low-income neighbourhoods where tree cover and cooling infrastructure are scarce.
Against this backdrop, the Delhi Rising campaign has introduced community heat alert displays at vending carts, labour chowks, and waste segregation points. Alerts, now simplified and translated into Hindi, are also circulated through local WhatsApp groups, co-created with worker associations and IMD meteorologists.
“With Greenpeace India’s Delhi Rising campaign as the catalyst, the initiative puts informal worker collectives among the most affected by extreme heat at the forefront of community resilience. The aim is to build a grassroot alert system for climate emergencies through close collaboration with vendors, gig workers, and labourers as trusted messengers,” said IMD in a statment.
IMD, under the leadership of Director General Dr. Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, has supported the initiative by simplifying forecasts and co-developing formats with community members to ensure they are both relevant and actionable.
“As a community directly impacted by the heatwave, we are taking the initiative to ensure early warnings reach those who need them the most. We’re not just sharing the information—we are organising, acting and protecting each other. This is our way of showing that collective efforts can make a difference,” said Akbar Ali, representative of Basti Suraksha Manch.
“This collaboration is not just about sharing information—it’s about building local resilience and enabling communities to act on that information. It is a call to recognise extreme heat as a national disaster demanding urgent, systemic response. With rising deaths and hospitalisations, we need community-led early warning systems to prevent and prepare for adverse impacts and also robust public infrastructure, health services to respond effectively to the crisis. The Delhi Rising campaign shows that people-powered action is not only possible, but it’s perhaps the most essential,” said Amruta, Greenpeace India representative.
A recent multi-stakeholder workshop, jointly organised by IMD, Greenpeace India, and informal worker collectives, emphasized the need to integrate early warnings into the daily work lives of at-risk populations. The workshop covered health risks, adaptive strategies, and the power of peer networks in extreme weather response.
As Delhi’s climate becomes increasingly hostile, this initiative sets a replicable precedent—transforming street corners into hubs of climate awareness and community protection. With the mercury rising and no immediate relief in sight, the message from the capital is clear: resilience must begin from the ground up.
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