Image credit: Project Team
Bengaluru’s domestic workers face rising health risks due to intensifying urban heat. This project aims to document their lived experiences and deliver practical solutions for heat resilience.
Urban heat stress is rapidly emerging as a public health crisis, especially for informal sector workers like domestic workers who often lack critical protections. The project will combine participatory research—using interviews and mapping—with targeted capacity-building workshops to help domestic workers identify and manage heat health risks. Collaborating with community health experts, Dr Archana S, from St. John’s Medical College Hospital, the initiative will train workers in heat preparedness and first aid.
To create a broader impact, the project will work with domestic worker unions, groups and city-wide and local Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) and community organizations, sharing workers’ stories through multimedia campaigns and advocating for sustainable practices. A digital multimedia repository of worker stories, a practical playbook for replication in other cities and engagement with government bodies for policy advocacy on systemic support for domestic workers’ heat protections will be key project deliverables. The goal is to combine research, training, advocacy, and storytelling to drive policy and practice changes that protect domestic workers from rising heat waves in Bengaluru.
By HeatWatch Foundation & Dr Archana S, St John’s Medical College Hospital
Project Start Date : September 2025
Contact details:
Heat Watch Foundation
- Apekshita Varshney:v.apekshita@gmail.com / heatwatchindia@gmail.com
- Dr Archana S: archana.s@stjohns.in
- www.heatwatch.in
