There were 33 proposals submitted to this Climate Colab contest solutions to the urban heat island effect in Cambridge, MA recently. I wonder if any of these would be useful in India too.
http://climatecolab.org:18081/...
The winner was proposed by Biomimicry NE and shows how to "FIGHT urban heat island effect like a forest. Capture water, filter light, and evaporate to keep cool."
http://climatecolab.org:18081/...
A runner-up was a variation on the classical Roman velarium, a vast canvas awning suspended above the Coliseum, adapted to produce power as well as shade with thin-film solar electric panels.
http://climatecolab.org:18081/...
Other proposals included green roofs, whitened asphalt for parking lots, depaving, and urban forests.
Cambridge is considering an ecodistrict with possibly a district heating system. I also wonder if such a system might be useful for cooling during the hottest months. Delta T, temperature differentials, can generate a lot of energy for a variety of purposes.
My understanding of climate change is that the experts predict that there will be many more deaths from heat waves than we currently experience. Would be good if we began to prepare ourselves for that reality.