SC seeks response of Centre, states on plea for norms to prevent heatwave deaths
A bench of Chief Justice of India Bhushan R Gavai and justices K Vinod Chandran and Joymalya Bagchi said the matter will be heard after four weeks.
Delhi lawyer Adil Sharfuddin moved the court for the regulations, citing government data on the heatwave deaths over the past five years.
Senior advocate MR Shamshad, who appeared for Sharfuddin, said the Rajasthan high court in April took suo motu cognisance of heatwave deaths. He added the high court urged the Union government to declare a national emergency when cities in north India were reeling under temperatures above 45°C.
Shamshad said the high court proceedings have closed and there is no way to get a response from the Union government on whether it intends to come out with heat protection regulations with enforceable obligations on employers and state authorities to provide for flexible work hours, sufficient hydration, etc. He sought an action plan to mitigate the impact of heatwave conditions.
The petition, filed through advocate Shashank Singh, cited data on heatwave deaths from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), National Centre for Disease Control, and National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). In 2022, the NCRB recorded 730 such deaths.
The plea said outdoor workers are the worst-affected due to these heat events as they have to work in scorching heat with little to no respite. It listed manual labourers, hawkers, garbage collectors, mine workers, brick kiln workers, and gig workers at high risk. 'As these jobs fall under the unorganised sector, with no social security and health care facilities...these workers expose themselves to serious risk by carrying out their work even during the extreme heat days.'
Heatwaves fall within the definition of 'disaster' as per the Disaster Management Act. The petition said that the NDMA is mandated to lay down policies, guidelines, and plans for reducing risk of heatwave deaths.The NDMA issued non-binding guidelines in 2016 and 2019 on heatwave management. The petition sought mandatory regulations for uniform compliance across all states.
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