India: Labourers, homeless hit hardest by heatwave

"Any extreme weather event hits the poor the hardest as its effect is multiplied by their vulnerability," says R S Deshpande, national fellow at the Indian Council of Social Science Research, according to the Times of India. "The poor can neither afford protective systems like homes with the right roofs, clothing to shield them, the right kind of food and water, nor can they afford to stop working and take shelter from the heat."

Ahmedabad is the only city with a Heat Action Plan, which kicked off in April 2013. The contingency plan was made after the city saw 80 deaths in 2010, when temperatures reached 46.8 degrees Celsius.