Street hawkers' body urges Centre to issue national guidelines to protect vendors from heatwaves

The National Hawkers Federation NHF on Friday urged the Centre to issue nationallevel guidelines to protect street vendors from the rising threat of heatwavesThe increasing temperatures are putting the lives and livelihoods of over two crore vendors at risk it saidIn a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav the federation said the frequency and intensity of heatwaves have increased alarmingly with 2023 witnessing around 30 days of extreme heat conditions and demanded that heatwaves be included in notified disasters under the Disaster Management ActThe federation said vendors are facing a double impact in the form of health risks due to prolonged exposure and loss of income due to reduced customer footfallVendors report heat exhaustion dehydration dizziness and even heat strokes Heatwaves also impact perishable goods increasing financial losses Vendors selling fresh produce dairy and other heatsensitive items suffer particularly heavy economic setbacks the federation saidIt said despite the growing risks street vendors often lack basic infrastructure like shade drinking water and firstaid supportThe NHF demanded that the government integrate vendor protection measures into the National Disaster Management Authoritys NDMA guidelines and ensure state and urban bodies implement themThe hawkers body proposed several measures including advance planning by local authorities installation of public hydration stations provision of umbrellas and temporary shade structures and distribution of oral rehydration salts cooling towels and capsIt also recommended the creation of shaded rest areas near markets and the formation of vendorled response teams trained to handle heat stress emergenciesThe letter called for street vending zones to be developed with green cover and heatresistant materials as part of longterm urban planningWith rising temperatures and increasing heatwave days it is imperative that street vendors who form a critical part of Indias informal economy are given adequate protection The central government must provide clear guidelines to states and urban local bodies on ensuring street vendors safety during heatwaves These guidelines should be officially integrated into the NDMA framework making them a part of broader climate resilience and urban planning measures NHF general secretary Saktiman Ghosh said in the letterMecanzy Dabre deputy general secretary of the federation said the government must provide adequate funding to heat action plans notify heatwaves as a national disaster and provide necessary support to street vendorsCurrently the notified list of disasters eligible for National Disaster Response Fund NDRF and State Disaster Response Fund SDRF assistance includes cyclones droughts earthquakes fires floods tsunamis hailstorms landslides avalanches cloud bursts pest attacks frost and cold wavesHowever state governments can use up to 10 per cent of their annual SDRF allocation subject to certain conditions to provide immediate relief for natural disasters they consider significant within the local context even if they are not included in the centrally notified listStates have previously requested the Centre to add incidents such as elephant attacks lightning heatwaves river and coastal erosion to the eligible list for SDRF and NDRF fundingResponding to a question Union Earth Sciences Minister Jitendra Singh recently told the Lok Sabha that the 15th Finance Commission had examined states requests to expand the list of notified disasters to include heatwaves but did not find merit in itAccording to government data extreme heat and sunstroke claimed 10635 lives in India over the 10year period starting from 2013During an exceptionally harsh summer last year India recorded around 42000 suspected heat stroke cases and 143 heatrelated deathsPublic health experts say the official heatrelated death toll is likely undercounted as 20 to 30 per cent of heat stroke cases typically result in fatalitiesEarlier this month the weather department said that the country is likely to experience abovenormal temperatures from April to June with more heatwave days in central and eastern India and the northwestern plainsSome states including eastern Uttar Pradesh Jharkhand Chhattisgarh and Odisha are expected to have 10 to 11 heatwave days during this periodThe year 2024 was also the warmest recorded both in India and globallyNHF is active across all 29 states and claims to represent over 1500 street vendor unionsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoeveratOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params