Workshop on Heat & Air Pollution in India: Evidence, Impacts, and Solutions -  A Stakeholder Dialogue 18 March 2025 (Delhi)

India faces increasingly frequent and intense heatwaves, disproportionately affecting vulnerable populations. Simultaneously, severe air pollution continues to degrade public health. Effective forecasting and mitigation strategies are critical to protect human health from the combined impacts of heat and air pollution. Our new research project, COPE (Combined impact of heat and air pollution exposure on human health in India: Evidence and solutions (COPE), funded by the Belmont Forum aims to address these topics by focusing on assessing exposure and health impacts from concurrent extreme heat and air pollution in Delhi and Kolkata while also working to develop and enhance early warning and decision support systems to address this challenge. 

The COPE project team welcomes Delhi stakeholders to share their insights on the planned research and actively participate in shaping the implementation of an early warning system, aimed at reducing health risks from heat and air pollution for Delhi residents. We aim for the workshop to include a broad representation of different sectors, industries, public and private organizations from the Delhi area. 

Stakeholder workshop agenda

8:45 – 9:30 AM: Registration with Tea/Coffee 

9:30 – 10:00 AM: Opening Session 

Welcome Remarks – Prof. Somnath Baidya Roy, Head, CAS 

Inaugural address – Prof. Rangan Banerjee, Director, IIT Delhi 

Special address – Dr S D Attri, CAQM 

Keynote address – Dr. M. Mohapatra, Director General, IMD 

Vote of Thanks – Prof. Sagnik Dey, IIT Delhi 

10:00 – 10:15 AM: Participant Introductions and Group photo 

10:15 - 10:45 AM High tea

10:45 – 11:15 AM: COPE layout 

Dr. Kristin Aunan and Dr. Sourangsu Chowdhury, CICERO 

Dr. Olga Wilhelmi, NCAR 

11:15 – 12:00 PM: Heat and Air Pollution in Delhi: Current Status 

Chair: Prof. Dilip Ganguly 

Air quality management in Delhi NCR – Dr Vikas Singh, CAQM 

Health Surveillance program – Dr Poorvi Patel, NCDC 

Heat action plan – Dr Anup Kumar Srivastava, CEEW and NDMA 

12:00 – 12:35 PM: Early warning system for heat and air pollution in India 

Chari; Dr Shinjini Bhatnagar

Air quality decision support system – Dr Rajmal Jat, IITM 

Heatwave early warning system – Dr D R Pattnaik, IMD 

12:30 – 13:15 PM: Research needs 

Heat and Health – Prof. Shinjini Bhatnagar, THSTI 

Air pollution and Health – Dr. Bhargav Krishna, Sustainable Future 

Air quality and climate change in India – Prof. Dilip Ganguly 

13:15 – 14:00 PM: LUNCH 

14:00 – 15:30 PM: Breakout Group Discussion 

15:30 – 15:45 PM: Summary of the Group Discussion 

15:45 – 16:45 PM: Local Partnerships and Risk Communications 

Chair: Prof. Gazala Habib 

Climate risk communications – Dr Arti Khosla, Climate Trends 

Research partnership – Dr Harshal Salve, AIIMS Delhi 

Climate adaptation – Prof. Anshu Ogra, IIT Delhi 

Actions at community level – Ms. Bhavreen Khandari, Warrior Mom 

16:45 – 17:00 PM: Wrap up and Next steps – Dr. Kristin Aunan, CICERO 

17:00 PM -   : Workshop Adjournment and High Tea 

Invited participants may attend the one-day stakeholders’ workshop, hosted by the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi; CICERO Center for International Climate Research, Oslo; the National Center for Atmospheric Research; Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology; and SwitchON. The workshop will be held on March 18, 2025 from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm at R&I Park, D Block, 3rd Floor, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (in place of Senate Hall, IIT Delhi), Hauz Khas, New Delhi, Delhi 110016, India.

The experience of your organization and your personal expertise are extremely valuable to this process. 

For more information on the COPE project: https://www.cicero.oslo.no/en/projects/cope  

To register for the workshop, please visit this website: Event registration form 

The registration deadline is March 7, 2025. 

For any questions regarding the workshop or the Belmont Forum-funded COPE project, please contact Kristin Aunan (kristin.aunan@cicero.oslo.no), Sourangsu Chowdhury (sourangsu.chowdhury@cicero.oslo.no), or Sagnik Dey (sagnik@cas.iitd.ac.in).