As many parts of India continue to experience relentless heatwaves, experts warn that there is no reliable data on heatstroke and heat deaths in the country. Weak and inconsistent data-reporting systems make it difficult to calculate the actual toll of extreme heat on human health.
“We do not fully count all the deaths attributable to climate hazards or to heat, as reporting systems are not uniformly strong across the country,” said Dr Soumya Swaminathan, advisor to the Union Health Ministry and former chief of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
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Speaking at the India Heat Summit 2025, Dr. Soumya Swaminathan emphasised that the number of deaths is only a small portion of the overall impact of extreme heat. She also added that, “There is a need to strengthen death-reporting systems because that is the best source for the government, for the policymakers to know … What people die of is what should inform your policy, and that keeps changing from time to time.”
Swaminathan also urged the creation of an environmental health hub where key ministries could coordinate efforts and break down data silos.
Currently, India has no nationally representative dataset on heatstroke or heat-related deaths. The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), India Meteorological Department (IMD), and National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) all track heat deaths—but report varying figures. For instance, between 2015 and 2019, NCDC reported 3,775 deaths, while NCRB logged 6,537.
Chandni Singh, a researcher at the Indian Institute of Human Settlements, noted that there are challenges in how India records heat-related deaths, and there is no reliable dataset to refer to. “Currently, there is no nationally representative data on heatstroke and heat-related deaths. One can, however, draw inferences from the existing datasets,” she said.
