Rain-battered North India is on its knees. But, no lessons will be learnt by our authorities.

The Twitter timeline is straight out of a Hollywood horror-thriller — hills breaking apart; muddy rivers engulfing everything in their way; concrete buildings crumbling like a pack of cards; markets and houses buried under silt; bridges collapsing, and all-weather highways being swept away, all in a matter of minutes.

These are real-time visuals of the monsoon mayhem in north India where state after state has reported extremely heavy rainfall bringing the entire region to its knees.

As per unconfirmed news reports, about 100 people are said to have been killed in rain-related disasters, and losses worth several crores are expected due to the torrential rains.

In Himachal Pradesh, often referred to as Dev Bhoomi, incessant rainfall has led to all the major rivers in spate and several feet above the danger levels.

Sitting at home in Mumbai, over 1,800 kilometres away, I was horrified as I watched a Facebook LIVE by Gurudwara Sahib Manikaran in Kullu, Himachal Pradesh, which I have visited a couple of times in the past. I watched the swollen Beas River cause massive destruction as its flood waters entered the holy site.

Several parts of Himachal Pradesh are completely cut off as roads have caved in and bridges washed away. Reports of landslides and casualties have come from Uttarkashi in Uttarakhand too.

In Punjab and Haryana too, parked SUVs in plush societies are almost submerged in flood waters. Ambala in Haryana is marooned. And in Delhi, the Yamuna river is in full spate and above the danger mark. People living in low-lying areas are being evacuated to safer locations. Heavy rainfall in Rajasthan has reportedly killed seven people.

Meanwhile, the Amarnath Yatra in J&K has also been suspended temporarily due to inclement weather. And the Jammu-Srinagar national highway is closed as a part of the ‘all-weather’ road has caved in.

These are all early reports of the disaster that is still unfolding. North India is at the receiving end of nature’s fury and official apathy. While enough has been said about Nature’s fury, what about official apathy?

To blame the present crisis entirely on climate change would be unfair. The government authorities, our elected representatives, and bureaucrats must shoulder the responsibility for the destruction that is unleashed in the Himalayas — year after year, monsoon after monsoon.

Ministries and departments plan multi-crore infrastructure projects in the fragile mountains as if they were glitzy Gurgaon or an SEZ (special economic zone) where regular rules do not apply.

Also Read: It is no more just semantics. It is a Climate Emergency

It won’t be surprising if this time too, like before, the central and state governments and the local bodies blame the present crisis on God’s wrath or climate change.

Climate change is turning out to be the convenient scapegoat for inaction, for not fixing responsibility and for the continued plunder of the Himalayas.

Climate change is also a whitewash that the authorities often use to hide their own inefficiencies and their zero will towards environmental protection.

The rainfall received in several parts of north India is way beyond normal. For instance, the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) past 24 hours (from 0830 hrs of 09-07-2023 to 0830 hrs of 10-07-2023) district-wise rainfall data shows the wide extent of large excess rainfall received in north India.

Between July 9 and July 10, Lahaul Spiti received 1778% beyond normal rainfall. Other districts of Himachal have had similar large excess rainfall — Kullu 1524%, Kinnaur 1024%, Shimla 1269%, Solan 1147%, Chamba 1167%, Mandi 487%, and so on.

Meanwhile, in the same time period, New Delhi had 1532 % excess rainfall. Several districts of Punjab too bore the brunt of heavy 24 hours rainfall — Hoshiarpur 668% excess rainfall and Jalandhar 541%.

In neighbouring Haryana, Kurukshetra recorded a rainfall departure of 2423% in 24 hours, Panipat 495%, Sonipat 649%, and the list goes on.

But these rainfall figures and extreme weather events should no longer surprise us. Time and again, climate researchers and scientists have pointed out the changing rainfall patterns due to climate change. And how global warming is likely to worsen the situation and make weather-related disasters a common occurrence.

They have been warning that we need to put in extra efforts to address the challenges thrown by extreme weather events, build climate-resilient infrastructure, and invest in ecological conservation, including creating room for the rivers.

But what do we do? In the name of all-weather four-way highways, comfort of the tourists, and ease for the pilgrims, we have ripped open the Himalayas. Despite a series of similar disasters — 2013 Uttarakhand floods and Chamoli disaster of 2021, to name a few — we have continued with the suicidal business-as-usual approach of plundering the hills.

The situation is no different in the plains where high-end townships and mini-cities have come up on the floodplains of rivers, and local water bodies (ponds, tanks, lakes, natural drains) have given way to multistorey buildings (some of which house government departments).

Little or no attention has been paid to the natural drainage system of the area. Rivers and rivulets, if they have not already gone dry or been encroached upon, have turned into nullahs.

No wonder then that cities and towns get marooned in no time and every monsoon our financial losses mount, while more and more of taxpayers money is pumped into ecologically damaging projects.

Extreme heavy rainfall causes flash floods and destruction; and the world is increasingly facing these disasters.

Recently, flash floods battered Spain too and we watched on social media, as cars were washed away in the floodwaters.

Heavy rain spawned extreme flooding in New York’s Hudson Valley on July 9 that killed at least one person, swamped roadways and forced road closures.

As per the analysis by CEEW, ‘Preparing India for Extreme Climate Events 2020’, the Indian subcontinent has witnessed more than 478 extreme events since 1970 and an acceleration in their frequency after 2005.

In the period 1970-2005, there were 250 extreme events; the post-2005 period witnessed 310 extreme and associated events (which include slow onset events like heat waves and cold waves). Further, between 1970 and 2004, three extreme flood events occurred per year on average, but after 2005, the yearly average rose to 11.

All this information and scientific data should push our government and the concerned authorities to act on climate change. Responding to climate change should become a mass movement so that citizens exert pressure on the government to safeguard lives and the natural environment.

Otherwise, what we watch on our Twitter feed today will be playing out right in front of our very homes tomorrow.