5 min readOct 31, 2026 01:00 PM IST First published on: Oct 31, 2026 at 01:00 PM ISTA deficient monsoon has ended as India braces itself for uncertain climate events. A glacial lake outburst in Bhutan has sent a flash flood down the Sankosh, prompting flood advisories for West Bengal and Assam and the evacuation of more than 10,000 people. Cyclone Arnab has already crossed the Andhra Pradesh coast near Narsapur as a very severe cyclonic storm, damaging crops across about 70,900 hectares and flooding parts of southern Odisha. These arrive after a season that swung between extremes: A June deficit of about 40 per cent, a brief recovery in July and a 16 per cent shortfall in August, ending 13 per cent below normal. Yet even in a deficient year, individual cities and districts were hit by intense downpours, rainfall exceeding more than 20 per cent compared to the normal average in this season. Such frequent weather extremes due to climate change pose a serious threat to lives, livelihoods, and urban infrastructure.In the last decade, compared to the previous 30 years, analysis by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) has shown that more than 64 per cent of Indian sub-districts or tehsils have witnessed an increase in heavy rainfall days, often coming in short bursts. Cities like Delhi, Pune, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, and Hyderabad are especially affected by such high-intensity rainfall. Poor regulations related to land-use and change policies often disrupt drainages that are natural conduits for water flow, leading to higher water runoff from dense built-up areas. Poor implementation of solid waste management policies ends up choking the waterways in our cities and towns even further.AdvertisementAlso Read | Climate justice needs quicker compensationThe solution lies in improving our preparation: Pre-monsoon, during monsoon, and post-monsoon. An action plan to manage flood risks should ideally cover these important checks.First, urban local bodies must reassess the intensity-duration-frequency of storm events by looking into the latest rainfall patterns and revising the peak flood flow and volume data. Such assessments are usually not undertaken regularly at the city level, leading to stormwater drains being designed based on old data and making their capacity insufficient to handle heavy rain. For instance, CEEW assessment shows that Thane in Maharashtra lacked a stormwater drainage system that can manage peak flow generated from one hour of heavy rain, which has been around 64 mm/hr for the city in the last decade. A similar situation was found in the case of Navsari in Gujarat. Both Thane and Navsari Municipal Corporation took cognisance of this and made budgetary allocations to design new stormwater drains.Second, undertake flood risk assessments to identify “hotspots” in a city. This involves identifying risks posed by hazards related to extreme rainfall, exposure of ‘assets’ such as hospitals and schools to extreme rainfall events, and vulnerability, including the adaptability of communities to cope with the adverse impacts of extreme rainfall events. This requires data on climate such as extreme rainfall events and socio-economic variables such as population and critical infrastructure in low-lying areas. CRAVIS (Climate Resilience Analytics and Visualisation Intelligence System), an AI-powered climate intelligence platform developed by CEEW, provides such datasets on over 250 indicators, largely accessed from public sources, which can provide crucial insights on climatic patterns.AdvertisementThird, manage flood risk through specific interventions over the short, medium, and long term. The weather monitoring system needs immediate strengthening, per World Meteorological Organisation norms. Doppler weather radars, recently installed in various cities, could be crucial for precise rainfall forecasts. Another short-term measure can be designing campaigns to nudge community behaviour to handle solid waste better to prevent clogged drains. For instance, the city of Indore was instrumental in successfully sensitising citizens to segregate their waste at source and not dump garbage in open areas. Similar efforts by the cities of Tirupati and Alleppey offer good examples to learn from. Urban local bodies must separate stormwater and sewerage systems, which are often one and the same in Indian cities.you may likeIn the medium term, establishing an Urban Flood Management Cell to coordinate with different agencies in charge of developing and managing public urban infrastructure is crucial. Moreover, replacing ageing stormwater drainage infrastructure according to rainfall pattern assessments is essential, as Cuttack has done.In the long term, rejuvenate local wetlands and water bodies, which act as sponges. The 15th Finance Commission allocated Rs 2,500 crore for urban flood-risk reduction across seven major cities: Rs 500 crore each for integrated flood-management solutions in Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, and Rs 250 crore each for flood-prevention measures in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Pune. We must also explore the potential of nature-based solutions, such as integrating wetlands with the existing grey infrastructure in the city. To scale up such solutions, use a unified framework for mapping and estimating benefits to bring in targeted investments. Flooding and heavy rainfall across seasons are becoming the new normal in India. Our cities must urgently flood-proof and not just respond in monsoon months.The writers are Fellows with the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW). Views are personal