In one Indian city, reflective paint and bus stop sprinklers offer relief from killer heat

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In one Indian city, reflective paint and bus stop sprinklers offer relief from killer heat

[html]People wait for a bus at a cool bus stop in Ahmedabad, India, Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

2025-05-14T01:10:41Z

                                       

AHMEDABAD, India (AP) — For 20-year-old Mayank Yadav, riding a crowded bus in the summer months in this western Indian city can be like sitting in an oven. That makes it a treat when he steps off and into a bus stop outfitted with sprinklers that bathe overheated commuters in a cooling mist.

“Everyone is suffering from the heat,” Yadav said. “I hope they do more of this across the city.”

Rising heat is a problem for millions of people in India. In Ahmedabad, temperatures this year have already reached 42 degrees Celsius (107 Fahrenheit), a level usually not seen for several more weeks, prompting city officials to advise people to stay indoors and stay hydrated.

And yet, coping with that heat is a familiar challenge in Ahmedabad. After a 2010 heat wave killed more than 1,300 people, city and health officials rushed to develop South Asia’s first heat action plan.

   
       



   

The plan, rolled out in 2013 and now replicated across         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/hub/india">India and South Asia, includes strategies for hospitals, government officials and citizens to react immediately when temperatures rise beyond human tolerance. Public health officials said it’s helped save hundreds of lives every summer.

           
               
                   

   

       
   


       

       
     
   

   
   
       

   

   
       

   

   
       

   

   
       

   

   
       

   

   
       

   
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A man arranges ice blocks to sell at his stall in Ahmedabad, India, Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

               
           
       
       
   

   
   
   


               
           
       

City officials, with help from climate and health researchers, have implemented two simple yet effective solutions to help those affected most by heat: the poor and those who work outdoors. By painting tin-roofed households with reflective paint, they’ve reduced indoor temperatures, which otherwise might be up to 5 degrees Celsius (41 degrees Fahrenheit) hotter than outside. More recently, the city hung curtains woven of straw and water sprinklers at one bus stop so commuters can get relief from the sun and heat. Officials said they plan to expand the idea to other bus stops in the city.

Residents said both measures have been a relief even as they brace for at least three more months of sweltering summer.

   
   

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A simple coat of paint makes all the difference

           
               
                   

   

       
   


       

       
     
   

   
   
       

   

   
       

   

   
       

   

   
       

   

   
       

   

   
       

   

   
       

   

   
       

   
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A man applies reflective paint to the roof of a house that helps keep the indoors cooler in Ahmedabad, India, Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

               
           
       
       
   

   
   
   


               
           
       

Throughout the city’s low-income neighborhoods, hundreds of tin-roofed homes have been painted with reflective paint that helps keep the indoors cooler. Residents said their houses were so hot before the roofs were painted that they would spend most of their time outdoors under any shade they could find.

   
       
   

“Earlier, it was really difficult to sleep inside the house,” said Akashbhai Thakor, who works as a delivery van driver and lives with his wife and three-month-old child in Ahmedabad. Thakor’s roof was painted as part of a research project that is trying to measure the impact of the so-called cool roofs.

Early results have been promising. “After the roof was painted, the house is much cooler, especially at night,” said Thakor.

           
               
                   

   

       
   


       

       
     
   

   
   
       

   

   
       

   

   
       

   

   
       

   

   
       

   

   
       

   
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Akashbhai Thakor, right, and his wife Kumud stand at their house in Ahmedabad, India, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)