In a couple of weeks, summer will arrive in Gangetic West Bengal. For my team and me, the months post-Durga Puja till late February are pleasant and productive: we work in the field conserving species and habitats. But as the calendar turns toward March, I feel a familiar knot of anxiety tightening. Summer means heat. It also means snakes. When temperatures soar, we are forced to slow down or retreat from certain sites. But we are the lucky ones; we can retreat. Millions of Indians who work outdoors cannot.
Experts have observed that warmer temperatures increase snake activity and speed up reproduction, leading to earlier and more frequent encounters. There is also emerging evidence that hotter, drier weather may affect the composition and potency of venom, particularly of the Russell’s viper. As snakes seek cooler shelter, they increasingly move into croplands and urban areas — exactly where people are. India already has the world’s highest number of annual snakebite fatalities: approximately 46,000 to 60,000 deaths. Climate change is expected to push this number higher. For every death, several more suffer disabilities — limb amputations, tissue damage, chronic renal failure. It is a persistent public health crisis that rarely makes headlines.
Summer 2026 is likely to be warmer than 2025. Heat does not leave behind physical destruction, making its impact harder to measure and easier to ignore. More than 23 of our states and Union territories are prone to frequent heat waves and extreme heat is straining public health systems, pushing power demand to record highs, damaging crops, depleting water resources, and reducing the productivity of humans, livestock, and agriculture. According to an International Labour Organization report, India could lose the equivalent of 35 million full-time jobs and experience a 4.5% reduction in GDP by 2030 due to heat stress. In 2024, India experienced its longest recorded heat wave since 2010, with many states enduring daytime temperatures above 40°C for an entire month and more than 44,000 heatstroke cases.
India has the National Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Snakebite Envenoming, which aims to reduce snakebite-related deaths and disabilities by 50% by 2030. We have Heat Action Plans designed to improve preparedness and protect vulnerable populations. But a recent study found that out of more than 100 HAPs across India, 95% lack detailed assessment of heat risks and vulnerabilities — a prerequisite for accessing project-based funding under State Disaster Mitigation Funds established in 2021. Only Bihar and Andhra Pradesh have conducted heat vulnerability mapping.
In West Bengal, the problem is particularly glaring. Although overall heat risk is moderate, Calcutta, North and South 24 Parganas, Purulia, Bankura, and East Midnapore are among 417 districts nationwide in the high and very high-risk categories. Yet our state’s HAP identifies a different set of six heat wave prone districts, with only Purulia and Bankura overlapping. It offers only a list of dos and don’ts. There is nothing substantive in terms of state actions or resource allocation. The practical consequence? Finances available under SDMF cannot be accessed to combat heat waves. This makes it nearly impossible for authorities to pinpoint high-risk areas and allocate resources effectively.
But the real victims are people who work outdoors: farmers, construction workers, delivery agents, border guards, police personnel, my team members. Urban dwellers without air conditioning suffer too. Heat stress does not fade with sunset — warmer nights prevent the body from cooling down after intense daytime heat, significantly increasing health risks. With nearly 50% of India’s population expected to live in urban areas by 2050, this is a ticking time bomb.
As I prepare for another summer in the field, I think about the delivery agent cycling through Calcutta’s heat islands; about my ageing team members, whose passion for conservation should not have to compete with climate-induced danger. Good planning requires good data, adequate resources, and genuine commitment. We have the frameworks. Now we need action to match the plans.
Anamitra Danda is an environmentalist. Views are personal
