4 days ago
- Climate
- South China Morning Post
Cool ideas in Ahmedabad help commuters beat intense Indian summer heat
For 20-year-old Mayank Yadav, riding a crowded bus during the summer months in a western Indian city can feel like sitting in an oven. Therefore, it is a welcome relief to step off the vehicle and into a bus stop equipped with sprinklers that provide a refreshing mist to overheated commuters.
Rising heat is a problem for millions of people in India. In Ahmedabad, temperatures this year have already reached 42 degrees Celsius.
City officials have implemented two solutions to help those affected the most.
By painting tin-roofed households with reflective paint, they have reduced indoor temperatures, which otherwise might be up to 5 degrees Celsius hotter than it is outside.
The city also hung water sprinklers and straw curtains at one bus stop so commuters could get relief from the sun. Officials plan to expand the idea to other bus stops in the city.
