Mumbai, April 13 -- Maharashtra government on Monday issued a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for protection of outdoor informal workers in urban heat risk areas.

State disaster management minister Girish Mahajan released the SOP with mandatory break between 12 pm to 4 pm and rescheduled working hours from 6 am to 11 am and 4 pm to 8 pm during orange and red alerts. Government expects local administration to enforce these shifts in construction, industrial and vending sectors.

This comes when Maharashtra is among the ten most heat-vulnerable states in the country.

The plan has identified 15 districts in Vidarbha, Marathwada and Khandesh regions as highly vulnerable to heat. These districts include Latur, Amravati, Yavatmal, Washim, ...