Monsoon Impact in North India

Heavy rainfall has caused significant destruction across North India, affecting multiple regions severely.

Areas Affected

• Himachal Pradesh: Several districts have been isolated.
• Jammu and Kashmir: Over 40 deaths reported; swollen rivers breached flood marks in Srinagar and Anantnag.
• Punjab: Entire villages inundated and farmland vanished.
• Delhi: Excessive rainfall with a surging Yamuna.

Consequences of Erratic Monsoon

• Monsoon unpredictability is increasing, with intense rainfall causing rapid local erosion and destabilizing mountain slopes.
• This increased the risk for remote settlements and emphasized the need for proactive strategies rather than reactive measures.
• Erratic monsoon patterns should not be labeled as “unprecedented” as they distract from learned lessons.

Challenges and Recommendations

• In Himalayan States, ongoing forest clearance and road-widening without slope-safe engineering exacerbate landslide risks.
• Catchments’ shrinking buffering capacity leads to increased slope failure risks and worsens flood loads due to silt accumulation in dams and rivers.
• Despite disasters, early warning and evacuation systems remain inadequate.
• Effective relief efforts are required, but equally important is the development of sustainable infrastructure, landslide mitigation, and early-warning systems.

To minimize future disasters, shifting focus from post-disaster resilience to reducing vulnerabilities systematically is essential.