Tamil Nadu, UK launch Heat Resilience Centre to tackle rising extreme heat conditions
Chennai(PTI): Tamil Nadu government and the United Kingdom government on Friday jointly launched a "Heat Resilience Centre" for the state, aimed at strengthening the capacity to address rising extreme heat conditions.
A Letter of Intent (LoI) was signed between Additional Chief Secretary, Environment, Climate Change and Forests Department, Supriya Sahu and Seema Malhotra MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Government of the United Kingdom, according to a statement.
The Heat Resilience Centre would serve as Tamil Nadu's nodal institution to coordinate heat-risk management across sectors.
It would establish a scientific and institutional governance framework, build technical capacity across departments, including health and urban development, among others.
The centre would also generate evidence, climate data and policy-relevant tools. It would also support city and district-level heat action planning, an official release said on Friday.
The initiative is supported through the UK's flagship Climate Action for a Resilient Asia (CARA) programme, and it is being implemented in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Resources Institute. The programme would run till September 2026.
With this initiative, Tamil Nadu has become one of India's first states to create a dedicated institutional mechanism to address extreme heat, the release said.
Commenting on the occasion, Supriya Sahu said, "Accurate heat maps and clearly defined heat-risk zones should be an essential foundation for climate readiness in the State. Tamil Nadu is taking a science-first approach to identify heat risk zones in every city, so that planners, health systems, and local bodies know exactly where vulnerabilities lie."
"With high-resolution satellite data and ground sensors, we should be able to map heat the way we map floods or air pollution. This will enable us to redesign neighbourhoods, guide construction, strengthen ventilation corridors and create pockets of thermal safety," she added.
Seema Malhotra MP, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Government of the United Kingdom, said, "Extreme heat is one of the most urgent climate challenges we face. Without targeted action, the impacts of heat stress will continue to grow, affecting the lives and livelihoods of millions of people across the region."
"The United Kingdom is proud to partner with Tamil Nadu in this pioneering effort. The state has already demonstrated visionary leadership by being the first Indian state to establish a Green Climate Fund and recognise heatwaves as a state-specific disaster," Malhotra said.
"Today's launch of the Heat Resilience Centre marks an important milestone in this leadership journey," she added.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Karnataka Minister urges Centre to launch Bengaluru–Vijayapura express train
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Infrastructure Development Minister M B Patil has urged the Centre to launch an express train service between Bengaluru and Vijayapura.
The demand comes following the completion of the 9.60-km double-line railway work between Alamatti and Wandal, which has been open for traffic since March 25, the Minister's office said in a statement on Wednesday.
"He has written a letter regarding this on March 30 to Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Minister V Somanna," it said.
In the letter, Patil stated that the Alamatti–Wandal section, part of the Gadag–Hotgi double-line project, has now been completed. During an earlier meeting, it was mentioned that once this work was finished, an express train between Bengaluru and Vijayapura could be introduced. He has now requested that this be given priority.
He highlighted that thousands of people from Vijayapura and Bagalkote districts travel daily to Bengaluru for education, healthcare, administrative work, and business, and this train service would greatly benefit them.
According to him, currently, the train journey between the two cities takes about 15 hours, which is inconvenient.
He stressed the need to reduce this travel time to around 10 hours.
The minister also requested that trains departing from Bengaluru be given a limited stops upto Hubballi, and that trains proceeding to Vijayapura should be routed via the Hubballi and Gadag bypass lines.
