Delhi breathes easy for second day in row with AQI at 89, rain expected
NEW DELHI: Delhi is in the midst of a clean air spell, with the air quality remaining in the 'satisfactory' range for the second consecutive day. The city's 24-hour average AQI was recorded at 89 on Thursday, a slight rise from Wednesday's 81, but still the cleanest stretch in over eight months. The improved air came on the back of consistent pre-monsoon showers and gusty winds, which helped disperse pollutants.
Wednesday's AQI was the cleanest air Delhi has recorded since September 29 last year, breaking a 261-day streak of poor to moderate conditions. With monsoon onset expected soon, experts anticipate further improvement if wet spells continue through the weekend. Meanwhile, Delhi reeled under muggy weather on Thursday as humidity levels soared to 87%, leading to an increase in 'feels like' temperature, amid generally cloudy skies and no rainfall.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), maximum temperatures in the capital rose appreciably over the last 24 hours, with Safdarjung recording 36.4 degrees celsius, a 2.2 degrees celsius increase from the previous day, while minimum temperatures also climbed to 27.2 degrees celsius, up by 3 degrees celsius. Despite the rise, temperatures remained below or near normal for this time of the year, as the maximum was 2.4 degrees celsius below the seasonal average of 38.8 degrees celsius. No rainfall was recorded at most stations in the national capital region till 5:30 pm.
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The Print
an hour ago
- The Print
From climate change to infra collapse, why deadly floods have become Northeast's new normal – ThePrint
Arunachal saw a tragic landslide that killed nine people, including children and pregnant women. In Meghalaya, Cherrapunji recorded more than 300 mm of rainfall in a single day, triggering fatal mudslides. Landslides and flash floods in Tripura and Mizoram displaced thousands and forced emergency evacuations. In just the first wave of this year's monsoon, states like Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, and Tripura were overwhelmed. Assam alone reported over 6.8 lakh people affected, nearly 50 deaths, and thousands of hectares of cropland under water. New Delhi: The Northeast was battered by devastating floods this year, displacing thousands and claiming dozens of lives. Experts say it's time the government addresses a mounting crisis in the region—soil erosion, frequent landslides, and increasingly destructive extreme weather events A new normal in the Northeast? Over the past few decades, the Northeast, perched on fragile slopes and crisscrossed by swelling rivers, has seen a growing number of extreme weather events. India Meteorological Department (IMD) data shows that while overall monsoon rainfall has marginally declined over the last 30-40 years, the intensity and frequency of short, heavy downpours—150 mm or more in a day—have risen sharply. In states like Meghalaya and Assam, these events have quadrupled since the 1950s. Dr D. Sivananda Pai, head, climate research and services at the IMD, explains that this surge in extreme rainfall is not an anomaly but increasingly a 'normal characteristic of the region'. This year, he points out, a significant amount of moisture convergence was observed in the Northeast—driven by warm temperatures and high humidity. 'Because of rising temperatures, the air can hold more moisture. So when it rains, it rains very heavily, in a short span.' What this means is a shift not just in volume but in distribution: fewer rainy days overall, but a spike in extreme events. According to Pai, this pattern now extends beyond the Northeast and is also visible across Northwest India, the west coast, and even parts of central India. Kartiki Negi, a climate impacts lead at Climate Trends, a climate research consultancy, said that there has been a clear intensification of rainfall events across the country, attributing it to a mix of land and ocean warming. 'We're seeing more frequent extreme events driven by a combination of warmer air, early monsoon onset, and moisture incursion from the Bay of Bengal.' she said. In the Northeast, this effect is further amplified by the region's topography. The eastern Himalayas act as a barrier, trapping moisture-laden winds and often leading to sudden cloudbursts. 'The Himalayas react more aggressively to global warming. A 1.5 degrees Celsius rise globally can mean nearly 2 degrees Celsius locally in the hills.' Despite being one of the largest contributors to the national monsoon average, the Northeast has repeatedly failed to meet its seasonal norms in recent years. 'Of the last 8–10 years, the region has underperformed in most,' Kartiki noted. The high normal baseline—around 300 cm in many areas—means even slightly lower rainfall registers as a deficit. And yet, paradoxically, when rain does arrive, it's often in destructive bursts. Dr Pai explains it further, 'Even if 50 cm of rain comes suddenly in a place that normally gets 300, it's still heavy enough to cause flooding.' Both experts agree that this volatile pattern is now the defining signature of climate change in India: not just more or less rain, but rain that comes harder, faster, and less predictably—especially in hilly regions from the Northeast to Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Kashmir. 'Whenever it rains, it rains like anything,' says Pai. 'Then there's a long dry spell. That's the new pattern—and it's showing up across the country.' Gyatso Lepcha, an environmental activist and social entrepreneur, also known as the 'River Man' of Sikkim for his protecting the free-flowing Teesta river and its tributaries, warns that the Himalayan state's fragile ecosystem is reeling from erratic weather patterns driven by climate change. 'The north of Sikkim is especially vulnerable,' he said, pointing to its high peaks, glaciers, and delicate ecology. ThePrint reached Prabhakar Rai, Director, Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority via calls and email. This report will be updated if and when a response is received. Over the past decade, sudden cloudbursts and intense, short-duration rainfalls have become common. 'It's not raining anymore—it feels like someone is dumping buckets of water,' he said. A 20-minute downpour now routinely causes landslides and destruction across the region. This is no longer a localised crisis. Lepcha pointed out that the entire northeastern Himalayan belt—from Arunachal and Nagaland to Manipur and Meghalaya—is experiencing simultaneous and severe rainfall-triggered disasters. 'Earlier, one or two states would get hit. Now it's all of us, at the same time,' he noted Also Read: Central & state surveys throw up same, grim result—Bengaluru groundwater depleting at dangerous pace Changing nature of the river of sorrow The Brahmaputra, which originates from the Angsi Glacier near Mount Kailash in Tibet and enters India in Arunachal Pradesh as the Dihang, it flows southwest across Assam as the Brahmaputra, and finally enters Bangladesh, where it becomes the Jamuna before merging with the Padma (Ganges) and emptying into the Bay of Bengal. Known for decades as the 'sorrow of Assam', its monsoon fury has long shaped lives and landscapes in the northeast states especially Assam. As Kartiki from Climate Trends points out, the region is inherently flood-prone—owing both to topography and high rainfall in the Indian stretch of the basin. But while floods have always been part of the river's character, their nature has changed. 'Earlier, floods brought fertile silt and replenished ponds with fresh fish,' recalls Professor Chandan Kumar Sharma from Tezpur University in Assam. 'People—even in their 60s today—remember looking forward to floods.' That, however, has given way to anxiety. Today, Brahmaputra's floods bring more destruction than renewal. According to the experts, this shift is tied to the river's sediment load and changing rain patterns. Brahmaputra is one of the most silt-laden rivers in the world. But instead of spreading nutrient-rich silt, floods now deposit coarse sand, rendering farmlands infertile. Villages across upper Assam are grappling with this phenomenon, locally referred to as 'sand-casting'. These deposits degrade the soil and render fields unusable for agriculture. This change in sediment dynamics is linked to another, more pressing shift: the changing pattern of rainfall. Prof Sharma attributes the worsening floods to increasingly concentrated bursts of rain, often followed by dry spells—creating a double blow of flood and drought. This volatility is worsened by the region's diminishing ability to absorb and channel rainwater. Hills, once natural buffers, now allow unchecked runoff due to deforestation and unregulated construction. Adding to this is the way human interventions are reshaping the river's ability to handle water. Himanshu Thakkar, an environment expert and the coordinator of South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP), explains that flooding occurs when rainfall exceeds an area's ability to absorb, store, or drain water. 'The moment your capacity to harvest or recharge water is lower than the input, flooding is inevitable,' he says. Unfortunately, that capacity is steadily declining. Deforestation, encroachments on wetlands, and poorly planned embankments are all shrinking this capacity. Thakkar points out that embankments—meant to expedite drainage—often do the opposite. In a river as silt-heavy as the Brahmaputra, embankments trap debris and boulders upstream. Over time, sediment settles along the riverbed, reducing the channel's depth and its ability to carry water. 'That weakens the flood-draining function it was designed for,' he notes. What was once a predictable, even beneficial natural rhythm has now become an annual threat—made worse by ecological degradation and fragmented planning, he said. Assam—the worst-hit state Assam remains the worst-affected by India's annual flood crisis. In 2024, over 2.45 million people across 30 districts were affected, and 52 were killed. Two years before that, in 2022, the state witnessed its worst floods in a decade—three prolonged waves of deluge between April and October displaced over 4.7 million people and damaged 108,000 hectares of cropland. The Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) data shows that the state has recorded over 500 embankment breaches between 2011 and 2022. The year 2015 alone accounted for 283 breaches, the highest in any single year during that period. Many of these past their expiry, according to the experts, gave way to water pressure. But the destruction, experts argue, isn't just a result of climate change. Local mismanagement has compounded the crisis. Heavy deforestation in upstream hills, especially around Meghalaya and near Guwahati, Assam's largest city, has left the land stripped of its ability to hold rain. 'Earlier, the hills had trees and grass to slow water down. Now, with hill-cutting and concrete replacing forest, rain just rushes down into low-lying areas,' said Prof. Sharma of Tezpur University. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has also flagged concerns about hill-cutting in neighbouring Meghalaya worsening runoff into Assam's floodplains. Guwahati, once flanked by wetlands, now drowns under its own growth. 'Every empty space has been built over. So where will the water go?' asks Prof Sharma. The city's drainage network is overwhelmed, wetlands have been encroached upon, and concretisation has robbed both urban and rural Assam of natural water retention systems. Even paddy fields in villages—once capable of absorbing floodwater—are being flattened for infrastructure. Adding to this is the uncoordinated release of water from upstream dams. From neighbouring country Bhutan's Kurichhu Dam in the west to Ranganadi Lower Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh, operational dams often release excess water without warning. 'Recently, the Ranganadi project in Lakhimpur released water without informing district authorities—leading to severe flooding,' Prof Sharma noted. ThePrint reached Arunachal Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority Director Kanki Darang via calls and email; and Assam State Disaster Management Authority Chief Executive Officer Gyanendra Dev Tripathi via email. This report will be updated if and when responses are received. In short, what's unfolding in Guwahati is a snapshot of what's happening across Assam: embankments breaching, wetlands vanishing, farmlands buried under sand, and cities choking in concrete—with no coherent floodplain management to match the scale of the challenge. 'Overlooking government policies' While climate change remains a global crisis, environmentalists and scholars argue that India's development model has worsened the situation in ecologically fragile Himalayan states. 'We didn't create the climate crisis, but we are bearing the brunt of it,' Lepcha said. He was especially critical of hydroelectric dams, roads, railways, and other mega-infrastructure projects pushed into ecologically sensitive zones. 'Every river in Sikkim has been tapped,' he said, pointing to the Teesta River, the state's only major outlet, now choked with dams. Lepcha recalled the 2023 Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF), which led to the collapse of one of the biggest dams in Sikkim. 'It was one of the worst dam disasters in the country, and yet it barely made headlines,' he said. The destruction that followed has left infrastructure in ruins and communities disconnected even today. He noted that similar patterns of devastation—road collapses, blocked communication lines, and recurring landslides—are now routine across the Northeast. 'The road from Dimapur to Imphal, for instance, was cut off again just days ago,' he said, adding that repeated disasters show how fragile the region really is. Echoing similar concerns, Prof. Sharma stressed the urgent need for a comprehensive flood management policy. 'I'm not talking about flood control—floods can't always be controlled,' he clarified. 'But there must at least be a clear flood management strategy.' Yet, he said, even major hydroelectric projects lack basic flood mitigation mechanisms. He cited examples such as the Subansiri Dam, the Ranganadi, Kurichhu, and several others across central Assam and the hills of Karbi Anglong and Meghalaya. None of them, he argued, have been designed with flood control in mind. 'So obviously, the severity of the situation will only increase,' he said. 'People used to live with floods; they even welcomed the seasonal floods in the past. But now, the scale and intensity of these floods have become so severe that survival itself is becoming unsustainable.' Brahmaputra board & northeastern council The Indian government has long had institutional frameworks in place to address floods and erosion in the Northeast—chief among them, the Brahmaputra Board. Set up under the Brahmaputra Board Act, 1980, and operational since January 1982, it was tasked with preparing master plans for flood control, bank erosion, drainage, irrigation, hydropower, and navigation across the Brahmaputra-Barak basin, which spans much of the Northeast as well as parts of West Bengal. It operates under the Ministry of Jal Shakti. But despite the board's expansive mandate and decades of central funding, its track record has repeatedly come under scrutiny—most recently in Assam's Majuli, the world's largest river island, which continues to suffer from continuous land erosion. In 2017, a Rs 233-crore project was sanctioned to protect Majuli. As of 2024, according to media reports, while the Brahmaputra Board claimed that nine major projects were 97 percent complete, yet, infrastructure failures persist. Bamboo bridges have collapsed, geo-bags have been swept away, and land continues to erode. Independent research shows that since 1960, Majuli has reportedly lost over 4.27 lakh hectares of land to erosion—nearly half the island. 'Assam's experience with the Brahmaputra Board has not been encouraging at all. Their role was supposed to be scientific flood management and river studies—but nothing much has come of it,' said Prof. Sharma. Alongside the board, the North Eastern Council (NEC) was created to serve as the nodal agency for economic and social development across the eight Northeastern states. Flood control and watershed management fall within its broader planning functions. Between 2017 and 2022, the NEC allocated nearly Rs 139.9 crore for anti-erosion and flood mitigation projects in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, and other hill states. ThePrint reached the Brahmaputra Board Chairman Ranbir Singh, and North Eastern Council's Director Administration L.S. Gangte via emails. This report will be updated if and when responses are received. It supported initiatives like satellite-based early warning systems through partnerships with NESAC (North Eastern Space Applications Centre). Yet, like the Brahmaputra Board, NEC's involvement tends to be advisory and funding-oriented—on-ground execution is left to state agencies, where delays and inconsistencies often dilute impact. In contrast, the Central Water Commission (CWC) plays a more active, operational role—particularly in real-time flood forecasting. It maintains a network of river gauges across flood-prone regions of Assam and the broader Northeast, issues daily or hourly flood bulletins, and tracks rivers breaching danger levels. These alerts are critical for evacuation and emergency preparedness, but CWC does not have the mandate to construct or repair embankments or erosion-control infrastructure. That responsibility lies with state governments. While CWC's forecasts are largely accurate and technically robust, their effectiveness on the ground often depends on local-level response and coordination. Tourism, a major economic pillar for the Northeast, is also collapsing under the weight of climate unpredictability. 'The monsoon is just beginning, and already we're seeing fresh havoc,' Lepcha said. He emphasised that strategic concerns—like countering China—should not justify ecological destruction. 'Yes, we need roads for security, but we also need to think long-term.' (Edited by Sanya Mathur) Also Read: Not just oil, capsized Liberian ship poses another environmental threat. It's all over Kerala & TN coasts
Hindustan Times
2 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Monsoon may reach Delhi by June 24, three days ahead of normal date: IMD
The southwest monsoon is expected to reach Delhi by June 24, advancing three days before the normal date (June 27), as the conditions are becoming favourable for the same, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. 'Southwest monsoon has further advanced into remaining parts of Bihar and east Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, some parts of west Uttar Pradesh, most parts of Uttarakhand, many parts of Himachal Pradesh and some parts of Ladakh,' IMD posted on their social media handle on X (formerly Twitter), on Friday. IMD said that the conditions are favourable for further advancement of southwest monsoon over remaining parts of North Arabian Sea, Rajasthan, West Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir-Gilgit-Baltistan-Muzaffarabad, and parts of Ladakh during the next two days. Also Read: AAP slams Delhi CM Rekha Gupta for 'false promises' over waterlogging in capital 'Conditions are also becoming favourable for further advance of southwest monsoon over remaining parts of Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh; Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi during subsequent two days,' the Met department added. Last year, the onset of monsoon in Delhi was recorded on June 28 and June 25 in 2023. Meanwhile, a yellow alert remained in place for the day and the weekend, with IMD forecasting rain and thunderstorms. 'Generally cloudy skies will persist throughout the day and for the next few days. Very light to light rain may be recorded towards the evening or night on Friday, accompanied by thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds of speed 30-40 kmph, even reaching 50 kmph during the thunderstorm,' said an IMD official. 'Satisfactory' AQI Delhi's air quality index (AQI) remained in the satisfactory category for a third consecutive day on Friday and was recorded at 76 (satisfactory) at 3pm, in comparison to the 24-hour average AQI of 89 recorded on Thursday. Delhi had also recorded its 24-hour average of cleanest air in eight months on Wednesday, with AQI being 81 (satisfactory). This was the lowest since September 29 when AQI had stood at 76. With the onset of monsoon on the horizon, Delhi's AQI is expected to remain in the satisfactory category for the next few days, according to forecasts by the Air Quality Early Warning System (AQEWS).
News18
2 hours ago
- News18
Rain Havoc In Pune: IMD Issues Orange Alert, More Showers Forecast
Last Updated: Pune Rain: Due to heavy rain, water entered several surrounding localities and housing societies in low-lying areas along the Mutha River on Thursday. Heavy rain lashed Pune on Thursday night, with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) sounding an alert even for Friday morning. The rain started late Wednesday and intensified on Thursday. Orange alert remains in place even for Friday, as per IMD predictions. The weather department has forecast generally cloudy skies with moderate and heavy rainfall. With heavy rain in the city, water entered several surrounding localities and housing societies in low-lying areas along the Mutha River on Thursday. Water released from the Khadakwasla dam, which supplies drinking water to the city, worsened the situation for such areas. 'As the water level of Khadakwasla Dam is rising due to heavy rainfall in the catchment area, water is being released. The water discharge increased to 4,300 cusecs at 4 pm," an irrigation department official said on Thursday. Videos shared on X showed waterlogged roads, causing a problem for the locals. Imagine calling yourself a smart IT City and this is the condition in just a few minutes of rain. 🤦🏻Video from Pune Maharastra which has a 4 engine BJP Govt. MP, MLA, MLCs, Mayor all belong to BJP. — Roshan Rai (@RoshanKrRaii) June 19, 2025 The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted that Pune will experience cloudy skies with moderate rain on June 21. Daytime temperatures are expected to be around 29 degrees Celsius, while the minimum may drop to 22 degrees Celsius. On June 22, the weather will remain generally cloudy with light rain, and temperatures may rise slightly to 30 degrees Celsius and 23 degrees Celsius. Similar conditions with light rain are likely to continue on June 23 and 24, with partly cloudy skies and temperatures hovering around 29–30 degrees Celsius. According to the IMD, rain is expected to increase from June 25, and continue on June 26. Despite the rainy conditions, the IMD has not issued any weather warnings for the coming days. Weather Forecast For Other Places According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the southwest monsoon has made further progress, covering the remaining areas of Bihar, eastern Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh. It has also advanced into certain parts of western Uttar Pradesh, a large portion of Uttarakhand, several regions of Himachal Pradesh, and some areas of Ladakh. First Published:
