Rising heatwaves and falling incomes challenge the survival of informal workers in urban India

A severe heatwave is currently sweeping across India. In Telangana, temperatures have already crossed a scorching 44°C, and the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued red and orange alerts for several states, including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Odisha. This marks the third straight year that April and May have brought dangerously high temperatures to the country.

With climate change pushing the limits of what’s normal, scientists warn that future temperatures in India could rise anywhere between ±1.2° C to ±3.5°C. But beyond the headlines and heat alerts, there’s a quieter crisis unfolding—one that affects the most vulnerable in our cities: informal sector workers. These are the street vendors, construction labourers, delivery riders, and countless others who make up the backbone of urban India’s workforce.

A Closer Look at Informal Labour and Rising Temperatures

A recent study titled ‘Heat causes large earnings losses for informal sector workers in India’ by researchers Saudamini Das and E. Somanathan, published in Environmental Research Letters, finds that rising heat levels are not just uncomfortable—they’re taking a serious toll on the health and incomes of these workers.

In countries like India, a significant share of the workforce—nearly 82%—earns a living through informal employment. This often means working without the safeguards of formal contracts, health coverage, insurance, or legal protections. For people in these roles, heatwaves don’t just bring discomfort—they pose serious health and livelihood risks. With no paid sick leave or sheltered workplaces, many continue working in intense heat, facing dehydration, fatigue, and other heat-related illnesses that can affect both their well-being and ability to earn.

The toll is immense. Between 2001 and 2020, India lost an estimated 259 billion labour hours each year due to extreme heat and humidity. In economic terms, this adds up to a loss of approximately ₹46 lakh crore. But beyond the numbers lies a deeper concern: heatwaves are not only a growing public health emergency—they are also an equity issue, disproportionately impacting those who already face economic and social vulnerabilities.

What Rising Temperatures Mean for Delhi’s Informal Workforce

In cities such as Delhi, migrant workers make up 40 percent of the population and are engaged in professions like construction, rickshaw pulling, vending, etc. They often have to endure heat waves without proper shelter or cooling facilities, which challenges their work capacity as well as their health.

The study examined the lives of 400 urban informal-sector workers from two slums in Delhi during the peak heat of May – June 2019 with respect to their work done, earnings, and hours worked. The respondents were self-employed or on daily or piece-rate wages and included launderers, construction workers, painters, coolies (manual labourers in transport or other sectors), cycle rickshaw drivers, electric rickshaw drivers, auto drivers, taxi drivers, food vendors, street vendors, rag pickers, petty traders, fruit sellers, waste and scrap dealers, roadside barbers, cobblers, roadside cycle/auto mechanics, and others.

Information on total work-related expenditures, medical expenditures, and total earnings was obtained from the workers and was matched with temperature data from the meteorological station at Delhi Airport. The study looked at both maximum temperature and ‘wet bulb’ temperature, which combines heat and humidity and is an indicator of the degree of discomfort.

What were the Impacts of heat waves on informal workers in Delhi?

The impacts included income losses due to absence from work, sickness, loss of sleep, increased expenses due to the requirement for more water and ice, and increased visits to doctors.

Being absent from work or not being able to work

The probability of not going to work among the workers was high at 17 percent and continued to increase by 1 to 2 percent per degree rise in temperature.

Extreme heat led to sickness in the family

A one-degree increase in temperature increased the probability of sickness in the family by 5 to 7 percent. The probability of sleeping well also fell by about 1 to 2 percent for every degree increase in temperature.

Earnings of the workers declined

Expenditures increased

Medical expenditure increased by 9 percent with every degree increase in maximum or minimum temperature, by 14 percent with every degree increase in average temperature, and by 15 percent for every degree increase in wet bulb temperature. Workers also tried to cope with the intense heat by spending money on buying water or ice and staying hydrated while working.

The negative effect on earnings was considerably larger than that of the formal sector

The study warns that more than one-sixth of workers in the informal sector worldwide may already be suffering heat-related losses of the magnitudes seen in this study. It highlights the need to conduct similar studies in other locations across all climates and seasons to better understand how global warming can affect people working in the informal sector. It also highlights the urgent need to formulate policies to protect workers from extreme heat.

What steps can be undertaken to help the informal sector to cope with heat stress

A recent discussion paper titled ‘Heat stress, labour well-being, and productivity amidst heat waves’ by Social Policy Research Foundation India (SPRF), India, authored by Anirudh Krishnan, makes some short- and long-term recommendations to help reduce the heat stress on outdoor informal workers exposed to heat waves, such as:

Nationwide implementation of Heat Action Plans (HAPs)

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) released national guidelines for heat wave management in 2016, and 17 heat wave-prone states and 120 districts and cities prepared heat action plans based on these guidelines. In May 2022, the government of India further urged state governments to draft heat action plans [HAPs] at the state, city, and district levels to avoid heat-related deaths and illnesses.

However, a recent analysis of the implementation of HAPs in nine cities in 9 Indian states finds that while cities are prepared in terms of short term emergency measures like access to drinking water, changing work schedules, and boosting hospital capacity before or during a heat wave, mainstreaming of long-term solutions to reduce the increasing risk of heat waves continues to be inadequate, with the only focus being on the health systems.

Restructuring of the informal sector and promoting shift work

Ensuring mandatory workplace regulations

Mandatory workplace regulations can protect workers from the ill effects of heat stress. Employers can reduce working intensity during hot days and provide both male and female workers with cooling measures like rest areas, cold water, and frequent breaks. Regulations can also ensure that women workers are able to access safe and hygienic washroom facilities and regular breaks for managing their menstrual and toilet needs. Incentives such as payment of high-temperature allowances when the temperature exceeds a certain threshold can also help in making workers financially stable.

Improving green cover in cities

The green cover in Indian cities is declining at rapid rates due to aggressive construction and concretisation. Evidence shows that green spaces and trees also help reduce the urban heat-island effect, making cities cooler. Regulations and policy interventions that encourage green spaces and trees in urban areas, prevent destruction of trees in cities, and encourage development models that incorporate green cover in their designs are crucial.