Kulhad coolers cut classroom heat
Delhi students introduced eco‑friendly kulhad (clay cup) coolers that reportedly dropped schoolroom temperatures by 6–8°C and helped more than 400 children manage the heat (x.com). The pilot’s reported temperature reductions were presented as a low‑tech response to rising local heat concerns (x.com).
Six students from The Shri Ram School in Delhi built clay-cup coolers for government school classrooms, and the team said the units lowered room temperatures by 6 to 8 degrees Celsius. (thebetterindia.com) The students call the effort Project Vaayu. The Better India reported that the group began work after visiting a government school during the April 2024 heatwave and seeing children study in cramped rooms under tin roofs. (thebetterindia.com) The coolers use recycled kulhads, or unglazed clay tea cups, fixed inside a wooden frame with scrap metal. Water runs over the porous clay, and as that water evaporates, it cools the passing air in the same basic way an earthen water pot stays cool. (thebetterindia.com) The pilot was installed in classrooms serving more than 400 children, according to the report cited by Inshorts. Inshorts said the student team described the system as low-cost and low-power, using a small pump to keep water circulating. (inshorts.com) The project landed in a city that has been rewriting its heat playbook. Delhi issued a Heat Action Plan in April 2025 that called for steps including adjusted school hours during peak heat and cooling measures for vulnerable groups. (news18.com) Schools in Delhi also received heat-safety directions in April 2025 to avoid afternoon assemblies and outdoor activities, schedule water breaks, and keep classrooms ventilated. Those measures show how much of the city’s heat response still depends on basic infrastructure inside school buildings. (indianexpress.com) The backdrop was a brutal 2024 summer. In a May 29, 2024 press release, the India Meteorological Department said temperatures across Delhi ranged from 45.2 to 49.1 degrees Celsius at most stations that day, while a 52.9 degree reading at Mungeshpur was flagged as an outlier under examination. (imd.gov.in) That distinction matters because the city did not need a disputed record to face dangerous heat. The India Meteorological Department’s long-running climate stations still showed 46.2 to 47.3 degrees Celsius on May 29, 2024, conditions severe enough to disrupt school routines and public health planning. (imd.gov.in) Project Vaayu’s classroom coolers are still a pilot, not a citywide program. But the idea is straightforward: use cheap clay, moving water, and a small pump to make overheated rooms more bearable where air conditioning is scarce or too expensive. (thebetterindia.com)
