India is being repainted white for an experiment (6 photos)

In India, it has been decided to repaint the roofs of houses, first in one region. If it helps, then the rule will be extended to the entire country. Why repaint the roofs on a national scale, you ask?





A man paints a slate roof, they have a ton of antennas there!

Because this is an attempt to somehow lower the temperature in the rooms, given that almost the entire population cannot afford air conditioners, and the heat there is becoming more severe every year.

What is the use of white roofs

Everyone knows from physics that white reflects all colors, which means it heats up less in the sun. Scientists have calculated that if you repaint the roofs in Indian slums white, it will help reduce the temperature in the room by 1.2-1.7 degrees Celsius.

Everyone suffers from the heat in the summer in India, including the homeless. But they are homeless only conditionally. Many people without an address live in illegal slums built from various scrap materials. The government has also allocated money for their repainting, knowing full well that they themselves will not buy the paint.



Women who are forced to stay at home and cook on the stove suffer the most from the heat

Hundreds of roofs in Gujarat have been painted with reflective white coating in the last two months. Because the hot season is getting closer and closer. So far, free paint has been given to 400 households (and everyone can do it at their own expense on the recommendation of the government). This campaign is called "cool roof".





Here's the work started, but Indians like to dry everything on the roofs

"Traditionally, a home is a place where people come to find shelter and respite from the elements. But in India, it turns out that the home that was supposed to protect them actually does more damage to the human body with its heat," scientists say.

Was it really better before?

In fact, yes, India is considered a hot country. But in recent years, it has really become even hotter. In recent years, Ahmedabad, for example, has seen temperatures exceeding 46 degrees Celsius.



Typical slums in India, view from above, a rather grey place

And everyone lives the same old way. In Indian slums, people live in one-room houses without ventilation. The heat inside is unbearable, and outside it is often unsafe to sleep, especially for women.

Plus, this is a chance to reduce the electricity bill for those who managed to save up for an air conditioner.



Women were the most pleased with the new white roof rule

The trial in Ahmedabad will last one year, while scientists will collect data on the health and indoor environment of residents living under a cool roof. And compare with those whose roof was not painted...

By the way, similar studies on white roofs are being conducted in Burkina Faso, Mexico and on the island of Niue in the South Pacific. In Burkina Faso, cool roofs reduced indoor temperatures by 1.2 degrees in tin and clay roofed homes and by 1.7 degrees in tin roofed homes, which subsequently reduced the incidence of heart attacks in residents.



Slum roofs are not secured with anything EXCEPT BRICKS on top

Do you think white roofs really help that much? Are those 1.7 degrees noticeable? But it would be funny if India were to order everyone to repaint their roofs by law. Let's poetically call them "Bharat - the land of white roofs."