Amid rising heatwaves, para athletes pursue their sport against impossible odds. Many can’t regulate their body heat due to spinal cord injuries, and yet they have no access to indoor facilities. Instead, they risk their lives training under the blazing sun
Bhavesh Trivedi, wheelchair rugby player
Before Ajay (name changed to protect privacy) met with an accident and suffered a devastating spinal cord injury that left him unable to use his legs, he used to love playing cricket. Then he discovered a local team that meets every week to play cricket on wheelchairs in Santacruz. Last year, he built up the courage to join the Mumbai Wheelchair Cricket Team, and it was like a portion of his former life and joy had been returned to him.
It didn’t last very long. Ajay’s spinal cord injury also took away his ability to sweat, which makes it impossible to regulate body temperature naturally. It’s not such a problem in winter months, but this year, Mumbai experienced heatwaves as early as February and March, with temperatures soaring upwards of 36°C.
The Mumbai wheelchair cricket team trains under the city’s blistering sun until noon at Mumbai University’s ground at Kalina. They splash themselves with water regularly to beat the heat. Pics/Atul Kamble
What’s worse, there’s not a single indoor court in the city that’s accessible to para athletes, forcing those most vulnerable to heat, to train under the full force of the Mumbai sun and humidity. Last month, Ajay quit wheelchair cricket. “I was overheating and getting breathless. I felt extreme fatigue, my blood pressure plummeted, and I’d black out,” he tells us.
Ajay’s struggle is the story of every disabled athlete in the city, particularly those with spinal cord injuries. In 2024, India achieved its best-ever Paralympic performance in Paris, winning 29 medals (seven Gold). And yet, there’s no telling how many para athletes — and would-be medal winners — have quietly given up because basic needs weren’t provided for.
Something as simple as being able to play in shade, could keep more of them in play. Other states like Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha and more have made these simple provisions for their disabled athletes, so why can’t Maharashtra do the same for para athletes in Mumbai — the capital of Maharashtra, and financial capital of India?
Indian wheelchair rugby team makes history in Bali
Bhavesh Trivedi, a national wheelchair rugby player, recalls how his team trained in full sun and heat before bagging India’s first medal in the sport
When we speak to Bhavesh Trivedi on Friday, he’s just returned from Bali, Indonesia, where his team has created history by winning their maiden international medal — a bronze — at the World Wheelchair Rugby Asian Regional Championship 2026 on March 30. With this, the team now has strong chances to progress to the Nagoya 2026 Asian Para Games.
The path to their podium finish has not been easy though. They have been training outdoors, on kaccha grounds: the worst possible conditions for a high-impact sport that was originally called murderball. “It is one of the most brutal para sports,” says the Andheri resident whose spinal cord injury left him quadriplegic, “It’s a full-contact, high-speed game where players are always at the edge of their seat.”
Bhavesh Trivedi and a friend train at a skate park under a flyover at Magathane, Borivli East, on Saturday. Pic/Satej Shinde
It’s meant to be played indoors, on a hardwood basketball court, so players are protected from the sun and injury. “Our wheelchairs are specialised and are expensive [Rs 80,000, made in Thailand]. When we use them on uneven grounds, they get damaged, and we get hurt,” he says.
Of late, they have started training at a skate park under a flyover in Borivli East. It’s shaded and the floor is smooth, but the dust and ambient heat are not ideal. Unable to regulate their body temperature, players play in the morning and evening when its cooler, and spray themselves with water to simulate sweat.
Trivedi is also a marathoner. “Despite lacking finger control, I push my 20kg wheelchair. So I heat up quickly. If you were to touch me, you’d think I have high fever [102 to 103°F],” he says, “I also have to be very careful how much water I drink, because quadriplegics don’t have proper control on bladder or bowel, and wheelchair-accessible public bathrooms are rare.”
“All these things restrict how often and how long we can train,” he says, adding, “And that has a mental impact too; at international competitions, we look at other countries with better facilities and wonder how we can match up.” In Bali, they fought yet more odds. “We had to arrange our own funding to go there. There too, we discovered we’d have to play outdoors in heat and humidity. Despite this, we secured third place.”
“Mumbai is the financial capital of India. How come we don’t have basic facilities? Other countries even have indoor facilities with para-athletic coaching, and shower facilities to cool down the body quickly,” he rues. Life as a disabled person is hard enough; sports is a way to assert their physical autonomy and prowess. “Not getting even basic support breaks our spirit completely.”
‘Need AC courts in Mumbai’s garmi’
Dr Manish Rana, director of sports development & performance at the Paralympic Committee of India, says the local authorities must develop
Heat has become a major challenge for para sports in India, says Dr Manish Rana, a musculoskeletal physiotherapist, and Director of sports development & performance at the Paralympic Committee of India.
Dr Manish Rana
“At the recent national tournament, a blade runner’s prosthetic came out because of excess sweat,” he recalls, adding, “Last year, when the World Para Athletics Championships were held in India for the very first time (in Delhi), we faced unprecedented heat. We had to order 1000 kg of ice every day to help the players cool down.” Plain indoor courts are not enough, he says, “they need to be air conditioned so that temperature is regulated. In humid cities like Mumbai, I can’t imagine players training at 35-40 degrees Celsius.”
He cites facilities in Pune and Gwalior as examples of strides made in para athletics support in India. Because of this, every year, we are seeing about 20 per cent increase of athletes entering the national system. “But even I haven’t heard of such a facility in Mumbai,” he admits. “It’s weird when you think about it; Mumbai has everything, why not this? The state government and local bodies must develop performance centres to support para athletes.”
Stifling at 102°F with no AC or fan
Neetu Mehta, a national wheelchair fencing athlete, says even indoor competitions are uncomfortable
Some sports like wheelchair fencing are practised indoors, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the conditions are better. “Forget air conditioning, there is often no fan in the training rooms. Even at national matches, the coolers are so far away that we can’t feel any relief,” says Neetu Mehta, a national-level player from Mumbai who is a polio survivor.
Neetu Mehta says wheelchair fencing is hard enough, but no ventilation in the room and the thick protective gear makes it even harder
What makes it worse is the thick protective layers they have to wear for competition: “There’s a tshirt, the chest guard, and an electronic jacket [which senses contact with the fencing foil]. We also have to wear a face guard. It’s stifling in the heat,” says Mehta.
Researchers in the UK found in 2024 that body temperature can rise to 102°F during fencing bouts. With heat and sweat trapped under the layers, Mehta often suffers from heat rash and dizziness. “We can’t drink too much water either, because just putting on and taking off the gear takes 15-20 minutes, and we can’t leave the competition to use the loo,” she says.
Even moderate heat is risky: Doc
“Sweating is not a luxury — it’s a life-preserving mechanism,” says Dr Mazda K Turel, consultant neurosurgeon, Wockhardt Hospitals, Mumbai Central. “It helps dissipate heat through evaporative cooling. It’s controlled by the autonomic nervous system [ANS]. Spinal cord injury interrupts these ANS signals from the brain to the sweat glands below the level of injury, resulting in no sweat there. Additionally, loss of vasodilation and reduced muscle pump below the injury further impair heat dissipation.”
Dr Mazda Turel
“Training outdoors without shade can be risky even for healthy athletes whose thermoregulation is intact, sometimes leading to heat exhaustion or heat stroke. With spinal cord injury, the increase in risk is exponential — especially in cervical or high thoracic injuries [T6 and above]. For them, even moderate heat exposure can become dangerous. These athletes overheat faster, recognise the warning signs later, and recover slower.”
“Worst case progression can include cardiovascular strain, tachycardia, reduced cerebral perfusion [blood supply to brain], nervous system dysfunction, multi-organ failure, muscle breakdown, and death, if not rapidly cooled down.”
‘Need a residential sports facility for pro para athletes’
Shams Aalam, a para swimmer from Dharavi, drags his wheelchair 1.5 km to and from the pool every day
Shams Aalam spends hours every day training for national-level para swimming competitions. And while being in water makes up for his inability to sweat, outside the pool, he faces the same kind of problems, only exacerbated by intersectional challenges.
Shams Aalam spends hours training with little support from the authorities
“I go to practice at 7 am, but by the time I am done at 11 am, it is sunny. Most pools are outdoors, so I am already light-headed from the sun exposure. Then I have to propel my wheelchair 1.5 km home to Dharavi. Autos can’t accommodate wheelchairs, and I can’t afford cabs every day,” he says, adding that many para athletes he trains with also have financial restrictions. Many make food deliveries on three-wheelers to financially support their training.
Aalam’s spinal cord injury has also led to thinning of his skin, and driving the wheelchair for long distances causes rashes and injury. “We also have to do strength training, but most AC gyms can’t accommodate wheelchairs,” he says, adding, “None of this would be a problem if we had a residential sports complex for disabled players, like abroad,” he says.
‘Netas, sports centres turned a deaf ear to pleas’
Rahul Ramugade, Captain of the Mumbai wheelchair cricket team, says they are tired of fighting the odds
Mumbai’s wheelchair cricket team has been playing tournaments at national level for five years, despite roadblocks along the way. Between 2018 and 2022, the team had an informal understanding with Mumbai University that allowed them to train at indoor and outdoor courts at the Kalina campus.
Rahul Ramugade
“Then suddenly, they issued a letter alleging that our wheelchairs were ruining the flooring,” says Rahul Ramugade, “This is not true.” The university still allows the team to train at the outdoor ground, but that is an informal arrangement.
“We are restricted to training in the morning before it gets hot. But one player with spinal cord injury has quit because of this, and others too are suffering from heat-related issues such as rashes,” says the Captain, whose legs have been affected by polio. “We have appealed to politicians, and even to sports centres with indoor courts, to no avail.”
Liladhar Bansod, the PR head at MU told Sunday mid-day, “Wheelchair casters exert significantly higher point load concentrations, and rapid wheel pivots and braking can create friction hotspots. Our maintenance staff observed surface burns and varnish removal, which compromise both performance and player safety... The hall is already scheduled for comprehensive resurfacing and maintenance in the upcoming academic year.”
With the few hours they get to train, the Mumbai team is now preparing for the selection camp for the national team, on which Ramugade is also a player. That camp is to be held in May, in full summer. “Even for that, we had to wait till all other sports went on break for the summer, so that we could get a ground for the selection camp,” he rues.
84
No of Indian participants in the 2024 Paralympics
Risks of overheating
>> Dehydration
>> Respiratory and cardiac distress
>> Heat stroke (core temp above 40–41°C)
>> Central nervous system dysfunction (confusion, delirium, collapse)
>> Multi-organ failure
>> Death, if not rapidly cooled
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