India, July 15 -- A group of Delhi residents has submitted a formal representation to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), along with citizen-documented "Heat Registries", presenting first-hand testimonies and evidence on how extreme heat is affecting people's health, livelihoods, income and dignity across the city. The submission, made under the Delhi Rising campaign, urges the Commission to take the Heat Registries on record as evidence of human rights violations, formally recognise extreme heat as a human rights issue, and recommend dedicated funding for Heat Action Plans by the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi, heat-vulnerable states and the Union government. It also calls for the implementation of the Sixteenth Finance Commission's recommendation to notify heatwaves as a nationally recognised disaster. Also Read - MCD rolls out EduLife 2.0 for schools "Extreme heat doesn't only affect the health of informal workers. For street vendors, the most significant loss is their work itself: there is less footfall during extreme-heat days, which leads to a loss of income and livelihood. There are no social security schemes that can compensate informal workers like street vendors for those losses or protect their livelihood. Extreme heat is taking away both their earnings and their dignity, and there is no system to protect them," said Mohit Valecha, National Coordinator of the Indian Hawkers Alliance. Describing the submission as evidence of a wider rights issue, Aakiz Farooq, Senior Climate and Energy Campaigner at Greenpeace India, said the Heat Registries document the impact of extreme heat on health, livelihoods, income, mobility, well-being and dignity. Also Read - CM serves up 'Mayur' Since May 2026, street vendors, gig workers, residents of low- and middle-income neighbourhoods, elderly people, children, women and students have maintained weekly Heat Registries documenting their experiences of extreme heat, supported by medical bills, utility bills and records of income loss. According to Greenpeace India, the handwritten diaries capture the everyday impacts of extreme heat that are often overlooked in official data, including sleepless nights, skipped meals, lost wages, children missing school, and heat-related fatigue and illness. The submission cites Article 21 and key court rulings to frame extreme heat as a human rights issue, while Greenpeace India called for declaring heatwaves a national disaster and strengthening Heat Action Plans, including wage-loss compensation and improved public cooling measures.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.