The National Hawkers Federation (NHF) on Friday (April 11, 2025) urged the center to broadcast patterns nationwide to protect street vendors from the growing threat of thermal waves.
Increasing temperatures are putting lives and livelihoods or around two suppliers of millions of rupees, he said.
In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Minister of Environment of La Unión, Bhupender Yadav, the Federation said that the frequency and intensity of heat waves have increased alarmingly, with 2023 witnesses of around 30 days of extreme heat conditions, and demanded that heat waves be included in disasters notified under the disaster management law.
The Federation said that suppliers face a “double impact” in the form of health risks due to prolonged exposure and loss of income due to the reduction of the client’s footprint.
Supplier protection measures
“The supplier reports the exhaustion of heat, dehydration, dizziness and even heat blows. Heat waves also affect perishable goods, increasing financial losses. Suppliers that sell fresh products, dairy products and other heat -sensitive items suffers,” he suffers.
He said that despite the growing risks, street vendors or the lack of basic infrastructure such as shadow, drinking water and first aid support.
The NHF demanded that the Government integrate the protection measures of suppliers in the guidelines of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and guarantee that state and urban organizations implement them.
The agency of street vendors proposes several measures, including the early planning of local authorities, the installation of public hydration stations, provision of temporary umbrella and shadow structures and distribution of oral rehydration salts, cooling towels and tapas.
He also recommended the creation of shaded rest areas near markets and the formation of response equipment led by suppliers train for hand -heat emergency.
The letter required that the street sales areas would be developed with green coverage and heat resistant materials as part of the long -term urban planning.
“With rising temperatures and increasesing heatwave days, it is imperative that Street Vendors Who Form A Critical Part of India’s Informal Economy Are Given Adequate Protection. The Central Government Mustment -Provide Clear Guidelines to Streeties’ Locingies’ Locingies’ Locingies’ Locingies’ Locingies’ Localingies’ Location. Locingies’ Locingies’ Locingies’ Locingies’ Locingies’ Locingies’ Locingies’ Locingies’ Los Local ‘Localizations’ Localizations’ Localizations’ Locations’ Locations’ Locations’ Locations’ Locations’ Locations’ Locations’ Localizations’ Localingies’ Localingies.
Mechanzy Dabre, deputy secretary general of the Federation, said the government must provide appropriate funds to heat action plans, notify heat waves as a national disaster and provide the necessary support to street vendors.
Currently, the notified list of eligible disasters for the assistance of the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) includes cyclones, drurghts, earthquakes, fires, floods, burst storms, storms, hoilstorm storms, canvas storm attacks, glaze and cold wells.
However, state governments can use up to 10 percent of their annual SDRF allocation, subject to certain conditions, to provide immediate relief for natural disasters that they consider significant within the local context, even if they are not included in the list of central notifications.
The states have previously requested the center to add incidents such as elephant attacks, rays, heat waves, river and coastal erosion to the eligible list for SDRF and NDRF funds.
Demand for thermal waves under the Disaster Management Law
Answering a question, the Minister of Earth Sciences of the Union, Jitendra Singh, recently told the Lok Sabha that the 15th Finance Commission had examined the requests of the States to expand the list of disasters notified to include thermal waves, but made merit in it.
According to government data, extreme heat and insolation, they said that 10,635 live in India during the 10 -year period from 2013.
Duration an exceptionally hard summer last year, India registered around 42,000 cases of suspended stroke and 143 deaths related to heat.
Public Health experts say that the number of heat -related deaths is probably undercover, since 20 to 30 percent of cases of cerebrovascular heat accident generally result from deaths.
Earlier this month, the meteorological department said that the country is experiencing the experience higher than normality from April to June, with more days of heat wave in the center and east of India and the plains of the northwest.
Some states are expected, including East of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgar and Odisha, to have 10 to 11 days of heat heat in this period.
The year 2024 was also the warmest registered in both India and around the world.
NHF is active in the 29 states and claims to represent in 1,500 street suppliers unions.
Published – April 11, 2025 05:18 pm isth
