India, April 14 -- The Maharashtra government on Monday issued a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for outdoor informal workers in urban areas during summer, delineating a string of measures to protect such workers from extreme heat and related health complications. The SOP, which mandates rescheduling of working hours and a compulsory break from 12 noon till 4pm during orange and red alerts about heat, will apply to all municipal corporations, municipal councils and nagar panchayats in high-risk urban areas across the state including Mumbai, state disaster management minister Girish Mahajan said while releasing the guidelines.

"Maharashtra has several districts with extreme heat conditions during summer. It affects human health and als...