|
Heatwave Financing Shift
The National Disaster Management Authority indicates a joint Centre-State funding mechanism for heatwave mitigation. The proposal is to recommendations to classify heatwaves as a national notified disaster.
Heatwave Mitigation Financing:
| Dimension | Key Details |
|---|---|
| Finance Commission Recommendation | The 16th Finance Commission has recommended classifying heatwaves as a national notified disaster. |
| Joint Funding | The mechanism provides for seed funding from Centre and States, backed by local governments, CSR, and civil society. |
| Fund Sources | Resources are pooled from National and State Disaster Mitigation Funds and National and State Disaster Response Funds. |
| Local Leadership | The initiative is district-led with minimum financial allocations based on population, while cities have separate considerations. |
| Mitigation Focus | The initiative provides for long-term cooling measures such as cool roofs, shaded footpaths, and drinking water stations. |
| Pre-2015 Position | Heatwave management was a State subject before 2015, with states such as Odisha and Rajasthan notifying it locally. |
| 15th Finance Commission | The 15th Finance Commission declined to include extreme heat in the national disaster list. |
| 2024 Decision | The Centre permitted use of National and State Disaster Mitigation Funds for extreme heat in 2024. |
| 16th Finance Commission | The 16th Finance Commission has recommended notifying heatwaves and lightning as national disasters due to increasing scale and frequency. |
| Proposed Corpus | The 16th Finance Commission has proposed a ₹2 lakh crore corpus for state-level funds for 2026–2031. |
| Heat Action Plans | Heat Action Plans exist in 23 States, 270 districts, and 64 cities, totaling 304 plans including those under preparation. |
| HAP Quality Concern | NDMA flags uneven quality of Heat Action Plans, with some plans copied rather than tailored to local climate data. |
| Procurement Risk | A key risk is mitigation becoming procurement-focused without long-term strategic cooling. |