Delhi LG, CM review implementation of heat wave action plan; mobile relief vans to increase

As the national capital is again reeling under extreme heat, Lieutenant Governor Taranjit Sandhu and Chief Minister Rekha Gupta reviewed the rollout of the heat wave action plan on Tuesday. They also discussed the next course of action decided during Monday’s Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) meeting.

Delhi Ministers Ashish Sood and Parvesh Verma were also present in the meeting, apart from the Chief Secretary, Police Commissioner, MCD Commissioner, NDMC Chairperson, VC (DDA) and all the departmental heads.

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They recalled that for the first time, following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call last year, Delhi deployed a substantial coordinated heat-relief plan spanning multiple departments to protect citizens across all the thirteen districts.

While appreciating the relief efforts and the numbers achieved on the ground, the LG and the CM pointed out that since Delhi has a massive population, having just one mobile relief van per district may not be enough. Hence, Sandhu directed the departments to focus on scale and capacity building, explicitly highlighting the PM’s direction to focus on long-term urban cooling to create lasting relief solutions for the capital to combat the “Urban Heat Island” effect.

The departments were also directed that the number of Mobile Relief Vans as well as Cooling Centers be increased as per requirement and be deployed in the areas concerned, those with a heavier presence of vendors and labour, homeless, people on the streets for livelihood, and in markets with the heavy footfall.

CM Gupta directed officials to ensure extra caution during employee shift changes at cooling centers so that public service remains uninterrupted. She emphasized that all water pots, coolers, and containers must be refilled immediately so that no citizen finds them empty at any point.

Sandhu said citizens are only interested in seeing actual work happening on the ground and do not care about jurisdictional divides between different departments or authorities. He directed all agencies to work seamlessly as a single team with the sole objective of serving the public and delivering immediate relief.

In the meeting, key achievements made so far in this direction were also highlighted including providing free water, shade, and medical relief directly on the streets.

To ensure there is no scarcity of water in present times, DJB has stepped up daily reach by deploying 940 water tankers making 6359 trips on a daily basis to serve water-scarce neighborhoods.