Health

Jakarta Builders First Victims of Scorching Heat

Stories from the field Author: Ellen Septiane

Many workers travel to the Indonesian capital from throughout the country in search of jobs, often taking on low-paid employment as drivers or factory or construction workers. Construction workers can earn a daily wage of about 100,000 to 150,000 Indonesian rupiah ($7-$10.50) for tough physical labour. But summer temperatures averaging 37 degrees Celsius can make working extremely difficult for them, as they can’t avoid being outside on hot days.


With a touch of paint, India's women slum dwellers battle extreme heat

Stories from the field Author: Rina Chandran

As summer heat becomes unbearable, simple measures can help people cope better. Meenaben used to dread the onset of summer every year. Her small two-room home in a slum in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad would get so hot that she could not sit indoors for several hours in the day, even with a ceiling fan running. Two months ago, however, she agreed to try an experiment: A non-profit organisation that works in the Ramesh Dutt Colony where she lives, on the outskirts of the city, painted her tin roof with white reflective paint, to try to reduce the heat.


Promoting a cool roof and passive ventilation concepts for indoor temperature comfort in India

Stories from the field Author: TARU Leading Edge

Cool roofing is one such technology that is becoming popular in developed countries. India had a tradition of whitewashing/ white tiled flooring of the roofs and walls, especially in desert regions. A variety of cost effective options are available in the market ranging from simple lime wash with adhesives to polyurethane based insulation materials. This low tech options combined with the improved ventilation can improve indoor comfort for all sections of the society.


Beat the Heat

CDKN launches a new film, produced by TERI, that tells the story of how heat action plans are saving lives and reducing ill health in India’s cities.

The film follows a project supported by CDKN and led by the Indian Meteorological Department, Indian Institute of Public Health and Natural Resources Defence Council and others ; it traces the journey from Ahmedabad, where the approach to heat action planning started, to show the heartening results and the spread of these approaches to other Indian cities.


Conjunctive water management in Indore

There are a total of 850 families living in Rahul Gandhi Nagar, a slum area in the Indian city of Indore. They are completely dependent on ground water extracted from 8 community bore wells. The ground water contains high levels of e-coli and total dissolved solids (TDS), and these contaminants are affecting the health and livelihoods of the residents. TARU Leading Edge, through ACCCRN program, would like to increase the resilience of communities against water-borne diseases by providing reverse osmosis. Watch this video to see the impact.