After the deaths of sevral people in Rajasthan, the state High Court has said that there is a need to declare heatwaves and cold waves “national calamities”.
Besides this, the court also directed the state government to give compensation to the dependents of the people who died due to the heatwave. The single-judge bench of Justice Anoop Kumar Dhand asked the chief secretary of Rajasthan to have constitute committees of various departments to take actions and appropriate steps for the effective implementation of ‘Heat Action Plan’.
The court said, “Due to extreme weather conditions in the form of heatwave, hundreds of people have lost their lives this month.” It also highlighted that in India every year people face extreme weather conditions in the form heatwave, rains and coldwave, which causes deaths.
“The news items published in various newspapers and the news broadcast on electric media reflect that in the heatwave of this year, the death toll has crossed thousands in number,” it said.
‘Sprinkle water on roads, provide cooling spaces’
The state officials have also been directed to sprinkle water on the roads, provide cooling stations, have shades at traffic signals where required and have all possible facilities at health centres, among other things.
The court has also recommended issuing an advisory for all outdoor workers, including porters and cart-and-rickshaw pullers, allowing them to rest between 12 noon and 3 pm during extreme heatwave conditions.
The High Court noted that on December 18, 2015, the central government introduced the Death Prevention and Cold Wave Bill 2015 in the Rajya Sabha. However, this Bill has yet to become law.
(With PTI inputs)