A youth-led study on heat vulnerability in Vyasarpadi and Ramapuram has called for Chennai to move towards localised, community-driven heat action plans, after finding stark differences in heat exposure, infrastructure, and health impacts even between the two vulnerable neighbourhoods.
The study, ‘Future Amidst Scorching Heat: Understanding Heat and Building Resilience in Ramapuram and Vyasarpadi’, surveyed 260 residents and documented the experiences of workers and other residents between the last week of June and the first week of August 2026.
Conducted by 13 students, eight from Ramapuram and five from Vyasarpadi, the study examined heat preparedness, early warnings, infrastructure, health impacts, and workplace exposure.
The study found that heat impacts were widespread in both communities, but considerably more pronounced in Vyasarpadi. Heat-related hospitalisation of at least one family member in the preceding 30 days was reported by 38.3% of Vyasarpadi households and 21.3% of those in Ramapuram.
While nearly 90% of respondents in both communities knew that water should be consumed before feeling thirsty, only about two-fifths were aware of other heat-impact prevention measures. In Vyasarpadi, 75.2% did not know which government department to approach during a heat emergency.
“We asked them questions about their family and income status, the number of windows in their houses, drinking water, and toilet facilities at their workplaces, and if they were aware of government helplines to contact in case they are sick of heat,” one of the students said.
The students, part of the Youth Climate Resilience Movement, were trained by the Chennai Climate Action Group (CCAG) for two months before they began field work.
They said that the government advises people to remain indoors during peak afternoon hours, but this is difficult to follow for workers whose livelihoods depend on being outdoors. “The respondents were mostly sanitation workers or daily wage workers,” a student said.
Youth climate advocates have called for decentralised monitoring of temperature and relative humidity to generate neighbourhood-level heat indices and guide interventions suited to individual vulnerable pockets. They have also proposed multi-stakeholder committees involving residents, youth groups, worker unions, doctors to develop local heat-response plans.
Their recommendations include shady rest spaces and compulsory breaks for workers, drinking-water points and functional public toilets, heat-resilient bus stops, climate-ready emergency units in public hospitals and better cooling, ventilation, water and sanitation facilities in schools.
“The students met and submitted the report to Chennai Collector, Chennai Corporation Commissioner and the Director of School Education,” said J. Prasanth, who trained the children.
Published – September 13, 2026 05:30 am IST
