Here are the areas that turned into Urban Heat Islands in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: With soaring temperatures this summer season, the city’s rapid urbanization has also become a prime cause in making the Hyderabad city further warmer. According to a city based research body, Hyderabad Urban Labs, it has identified a few places in the city which have now turned into Urban Heat Islands (UHI) and these heat islands usually exhibit hotter temperatures than the rest of their surroundings.

According to Hyderabad Urban Labs, certain areas in the city were named as Urban Heat Islands. The areas include, Patancheru, Bandlaguda, Gachibowli, Mailardevapally, Bn Reddy Nagar, Hayathnagar and Mansoorabad are identified to have majority of the urban heat islands in these areas.

What is an Urban Heat Island?

According to the National Geography Education portal, an urban heat island, or UHI is defined as a metropolitan area that’s a lot warmer than the rural areas surrounding it. It should be further understood that rapid urbanization is the main cause of this phenomenon, as heat is generated by the energy from all the people surrounding in these areas, be it, the public or vehicles. To be specific, the heat islands are developed in areas which have ‘a lot of activity and a lot of people’. It is reasoned that, when the houses, shops and industrial buildings are constructed in closer spaces, this creates Urban Heat Islands. It is said that the construction materials, which act as insulators, hold the heat and make it much hotter. And because of this insulation the areas around these buildings only get warmer.

And according to the reports, Hyderabad is one of the popular metropolitan cities and is also the fourth fastest growing city in the entire world. And the city’s growth is estimated to be at 8.47 percent year after year according to a report released by the real estate consultancy, Knight Frank India.

With this rapid growth, one can expect the development of more Urban Heat Islands in the city in the upcoming days.