The Times of Climate Change

One climate story that affects India, every day

Monsoon Became the Season of Devastating Floods

This is not one bad monsoon in one region — it's a pattern showing up across India

What's happening?

  • Uttarakhand (Dharali): Heavy rainfall and flash floods on August 5.
  • Jammu & Kashmir (Kishtwar): Cloudburst triggered flash flood along a pilgrimage route on August 14.
  • Himachal Pradesh: 45 cloudbursts, 122 landslides, 95 flash floods.
  • Gurgaon: Intense September 1 rainfall caused widespread waterlogging and traffic gridlock.
  • Punjab: Early September flooding affected all districts; 30+ deaths, 3+ lakh affected; 148,000+ hectares agricultural land submerged.
  • Manipur: Mid-September flooding with river embankment breaches.
  • Kolkata: September 23 intense rainfall caused 10 deaths, 30 injuries.
  • Marathwada: Heaviest rainfall in 50+ years (September 23) caused severe flooding, agricultural losses, infrastructure damage.

Why should you care?

  • Such widespread simultaneous flooding across the country signals alarm. This is not one bad monsoon in one region — it's a pattern across India.
  • The causes are a combination of unusually intense rainfall and poor planning — excessive concretization, unaccounted natural flows, green cover removal, and construction in ecologically sensitive zones.
  • With climate change intensifying extreme rainfall and urbanization increasing, such incidents will become more frequent. Building community and infrastructure resilience is critical.

Sources

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