Fund Avoidable Deaths due to Extreme Heat: ACASA – Ahmedabad Case Station for Avoidable Deaths

Ahmedabad is known across India as a city that learns from its challenges. More than a decade ago, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) took a historic step by launching India’s first Heat Action Plan. That decision laid the foundation for a culture of preparedness that continues to evolve with a focus on extreme heat risk management. Today, as temperatures rise higher and unseasonal rains disturb daily life, the city is again showing that resilience begins with the people who keep its markets and streets alive.

The focus is on building resilience through preventing avoidable deaths and losses caused by extreme heat. Under the Ahmedabad Case Station for Avoidable Deaths (ACASA), run by the  All India Disaster Mitigation Institute (AIDMI) within the Avoidable Death Network (ADN), the emphasis is on identifying where early action can stop health impacts and mortality before they occur.

On IDDRR 2025, over 50 small businesses from Ahmedabad committed to take preparedness actions against climate extreme events, particularly extreme heat, under ACASA. These small businesses are demonstrating how early action saves lives and livelihoods. Their local practices also show how avoidable deaths from extreme heat can be prevented through simple, low-cost measures. These small businesses are translating the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction 2025 theme—Fund Resilience, Not Disasters—into daily practice, and aligning it with ADN’s vision: to reduce avoidable mortality through resilience-building.

In the city’s narrow lanes and busy markets, adaptation is visible. Small businesses have installed shade nets, reflective sheets, and small fans; fruit sellers use insulated boxes to keep produce fresh; tailors and shopkeepers adjust their hours to avoid peak heat. Each of these small actions reduces exposure to heat stress, helping small businesses, transportation workers, and customers avoid illness, exhaustion, and potential heat-related health impacts. These modest investments—supported through AIDMI’s Climate Resilience Fund along with municipal planning and awareness campaigns—have reduced heat-related illnesses and prevented income loss.

Health workers, civil hospitals, and ward offices now actively connected under HAP and actively taking actions to reduce health impact due to extreme heat. This health system engagement is key to preventing avoidable deaths: timely referrals, hydration points, and local awareness can mean the difference between recovery and tragedy. ACASA’s team at AIDMI conducts field consultations that disseminate and build understanding on extreme heat early warnings, utilizing IMD’s  Mausam and NDMA’s SACHET  apps to ensure alerts reach those most exposed.

One participant from the field consultation shared her experience: “Earlier, we didn’t know about extreme heat early warning. After attending the training conducted in my own area, I learned how to take care of ourselves and our family members. Now, we regularly check the SACHET app for alerts and plan our day and week accordingly,” said Jyotsnaben Kesariya, a hosiery items seller.

Local voices capture the change best. “We used to stop work by noon,” says Bhavnaben Dantani, a fruit seller. “Now, with shade and water, we can continue safely.” For officials, these outcomes reinforce that proactive measures work better than relief. As one AMC officer noted, “When people prepare together, the city becomes stronger.”

The action in Ahmedabad reflects constructive progress in disaster risk reduction. It demonstrates that when resilience is funded and inclusion is prioritized, avoidable deaths and losses from extreme heat can be prevented, hazards cannot turn into disasters, and development progress remains steady. AIDMI, through ACASA, is putting forward a strong case that avoiding death is not a distant ideal—it is an achievable outcome of everyday preparedness. The prevention of avoidable deaths begins not after the storm, but in the ordinary, life-saving decisions of those who keep the city working.

Cover photo:  A fruit seller proudly displays the new umbrella she recently installed which provides shade for both herself and her customers. Photo: AIDMI