Govt to set up shade shelters in public places; guidelines issued to tackle heatwave

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The government has issued guidelines for the people after the heatwave warning was announced in the state. The government issued the instructions after a high-level meeting held online under the leadership of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The chief minister shared the direction through his Facebook page. The chief minister said that extreme caution should be exercised in the backdrop of increasing heat in the state. The decisions taken in the high-level meeting included installing cool roofs in Anganwadis and schools, ensuring water and ORS in public places, and considering reducing the timing of traffic signals.

Facilities in public places: Adequate water, ORS and sunstroke first aid facilities will be provided in public places like major markets and bus stands. Temporary shade tents should be installed in markets and other public places. Health center employees, local government representatives, officials, service, trade unions and voluntary organizations should work in a coordinated manner in this regard.

Traffic control: District collectors should take necessary steps to reduce the duration of traffic signals wherever possible, seeking the opinion of the police and traffic authorities.

Control of public events: Strict restrictions and prohibitions will be imposed on events like public events, selection trials, day camps and sports events during heatwave warning periods.

Public Thanneer Pandals: Thanneer Pandals will be set up on roadsides, intersections, bus waiting areas, and auto taxi stands. Cooperative institutions are setting up Thanneer Pandals free of charge in the relevant areas. Efforts should be made to create a public system that provides drinking water, if possible, sambaram, watermelon, etc. Kudumbashree, cooperative institutions, youth organizations, clubs, other service, voluntary, trade union organizations, etc. should all work together to implement this in as many places as possible. Local self-government institutions should take the lead in this.

Ensuring water availability: The water authority and the irrigation department should implement urgent measures to ensure availability of drinking water. There should be coordination with local bodies in this regard. A public campaign should be organized for rainwater harvesting. In the event of widespread drought, the Water Authority should take special care to take necessary measures to ensure water availability throughout the state. Steps should be taken on a war footing in this regard. Necessary assistance will also be provided for the response activities of local self-government institutions from the funds allocated to the district disaster management authorities for emergency measures.

Weather monitoring and literacy: Steps should be taken to establish weather monitoring systems in all local self-government institutions with public participation. Information such as temperature, rainfall, humidity, water level etc. should be collected on a ward basis and displayed locally, thereby creating weather literacy. Allocating money from the State Disaster Response Fund for this will be considered.