Until now, the main response at the government level has been through so-called “Heat Action Plans.” Rajesh Kumar Singh/APMarco Werman: Now, the existing government response to heat waves, the Heat Action Plans, explain what they are exactly and how they’re meant to work. Aditya Pillai: Heat Action Plans basically tell different government departments what they should do in the event of a heat wave. Two things that, in general, Indian heat action plans, European heat action plans, a lot of American heat action plans don’t do is finance the actions and also build legislative scaffolding. Rajesh Kumar Singh/APSo, these local action plans are triggered in response to a heat event, but as we’ve seen with this new official “heat disaster” classification, extreme heat is becoming the baseline in India.