Disrupted monsoons force India to face climate threat
For generations, India has lived by the rhythm of the southwest monsoon. But with the country hit by dry spells, cloudbursts and deadly floods, climate swings now expose the costs of building for yesterday's weather.
India's southwest monsoon, typically arriving in June and bringing most of the country's annual rainfall, is experiencing significant disruptions. While the total rainfall remains around the same, the way it arrives has changed. Farmers, cities, and businesses struggle to plan around its unpredictable timing and intensity. Since late July, over 100 people have been killed across India due to heavy monsoon rains causing floods, landslides, and lightning strikes.
The northeastern state of Assam has been particularly hard hit, with more than 120,000 people affected by flooding. Other affected regions include Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar, and Jharkhand. The issue isn't necessarily more rain, but how it arrives - longer dry spells followed by intense, short bursts of rainfall that can overwhelm rivers, drainage systems, and hillsides.
While El Nino has added to this year's variability, scientists say the longer-term changes are driven by a changing climate. The monsoon's intensity is increasing, according to experts. A warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture, making intense rainfall periods more extreme. Average seasonal rainfall hasn't changed systematically, but the monsoon's timing, intensity, and distribution of rainfall are noticeably different.
This represents a fundamental shift in the monsoon system, say climate scientists. India's farmers depend heavily on the monsoon's timing, and extreme weather can disrupt sowing and reduce soil moisture, while intense rain can wash away fields and damage crops. Cities, meanwhile, are struggling with rapid construction, leaving less land to absorb water and interfering with natural drainage.
After weeks of dry weather, hard soil absorbs less water, and heavy rain can cause more floods. Deoras warns that India's infrastructure is out of step with this changing threat, and needs to be redesigned to handle short, high-impact rainfall events. Forecasting has improved, but it needs to translate into timely, impact-based decisions, such as closing off vulnerable areas before heavy rain arrives.
The problem goes beyond extreme weather itself, according to environmental lawyer Ritwick Dutta. Climate change leads to erratic rainfall patterns, with high rainfall over a few days followed by long dry periods during the monsoon. These trends have compounded by the fact that India's decision-making process fails to consider climate change while planning construction projects.
The government's environmental clearance system does not require climate change to be factored into project decisions, and the concept of "climate-proofing" does not exist. The Centre for Science and Environment found that extreme weather affected India on 99% of monitored days in 2025, with over 4,000 people dying and at least 30 states and union territories experiencing extreme weather simultaneously for eight consecutive months.
Author Sunita Narain argues that adaptation needs to become part of India's development strategy, redesigning the country's economy and infrastructure to survive extreme weather events.
Written by urgent.news from DW News's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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