Heat Intelligence for Driving Action: Worker Protection to Resilient Cities
On September 10th, 2026, the India Energy & Climate Center (IECC) at UC Berkeley hosted the online launch of SHRAM (System for Heat Risk Assessment for Manual labor) and CHAITRA (City Heat Action Intelligence and Risk Atlas) — two decision-support tools and accompanying reports designed to strengthen heat resilience planning across India.
EHI-N*: A Modified Extended Heat Index for Laboring Populations
Approximately 2.4 billion workers perform manual labor globally, yet current heat stress indices are calibrated to sedentary individuals, systematically underestimating risk for active workers.
CHAITRA – City Heat Action InTelligence and Risk Atlas Scaling evidence-based heat action planning in India
Heat Action Plans (HAPs) have evolved over the past decade into India’s principal framework for urban heat preparedness.
Manual Work Under Extreme Heat: Using EHI-N* to protect laboring populations
India’s roughly 380 million outdoor and heat-exposed workers face escalating danger from extreme heat, yet the metrics used to declare heatwaves and trigger protective action systematically underestimate their risk.
Heat Stress Monitoring for Outdoor Workers, Powered by EHI-N*
SHRAM provides real-time heat stress monitoring across India using EHI-N*, a physiologically-based model calibrated to MET levels developed by the IECC team. EHI-6* estimates heat stress experienced by workers doing heavy labor in direct sunlight.
View current conditions by district, 3-day forecasts, and sign up for personalized alerts when hazardous heat levels are detected.
Scaling data-driven heat action planning using CHAITRA – City Heat Action Intelligence and Risk Atlas
Over 250 Indian cities have adopted Heat Action Plans (HAPs), but fewer than a handful include ward-level vulnerability assessments or translate risk data into quantified intervention needs.
Opinion: How SECI’s thermal mimic auction for clean energy producers has changed the game in India
India has moved from procuring cheap renewable energy to procuring firm renewable power shaped around when consumers need it.
India’s Renewable Energy Breakthrough: Coal-Like Reliability at a Lower Fixed Price
Firm renewable power at Rs 5.25: reliable, inflation-proof, and below every coal PPA India signed in 2025.
Economic and Employment Benefits of Low-Cost and Domestically Produced Clean Energy
India’s clean-energy transition is an industrial, employment, and external-sector strategy, not only a decarbonization agenda. India imports about half of its primary energy and 87% of its crude oil.
A roadmap for electric trucks
India’s freight runs largely on diesel, leaving the economy vulnerable to global oil-price shocks and exchange-rate volatility.