Delhi Flooding: How Urbanisation And Changing Rainfall Patterns Swell The Yamuna | Lifestyle News

Last Updated:September 02, 2025, 08:43 IST

Rising rainfall, rapid urbanisation, and vanishing water bodies are turning Delhi’s monsoon into a flood crisis.

Yamuna water breaches danger mark

When the Yamuna swells each monsoon, Delhi braces itself. Water rushes into low-lying neighbourhoods, familiar roads transform into rivers, and the city’s drainage systems struggle to cope. What seems like a natural disaster is, in fact, a story decades in the making one shaped as much by changing rainfall patterns as by choices of urban planning.

As Nitin Bassi, Fellow at CEEW, explains, “CEEW analysis shows that more than 55 per cent sub-districts in India have witnessed increase in rainfall during the south-west monsoon in the past decade. The increased rainfall intensity during July and August and land use changes in the Western Himalayas have contributed substantially to the swelling of the River Yamuna during monsoon season.”

But the rising Yamuna is only part of the picture. Delhi itself has become more vulnerable to flooding. The city’s built-up area has grown by over 35% in the last 15 years. With more concrete and asphalt covering the ground, even the same intensity of rainfall today generates higher runoff than in the past. Meanwhile, the area under water bodies, once natural buffers that absorbed and slowed stormwater has shrunk drastically.

Bassi points out that this twin effect of “more rain, less absorption” creates cascading risks for the capital. “On the other hand, the built-up area in Delhi has gone up by over 35 per cent in the last 15 years, generating higher runoff with the rainfall of same intensity in comparison to past years. Further, the area under water bodies has shrunk that used to slow down runoff and absorb storm water.”

The result is a city where riverine flooding collides with localised waterlogging—an urban challenge that calls for urgent, coordinated responses. As Bassi suggests, “To better mitigate the impact of riverine flooding in urban areas like Delhi, which already face challenges with waterlogging and localised flooding, it is crucial to implement improved preparatory measures. These include development of city level or hyper-local flood risk management plans to identify flooding ‘hotspots’ and help prioritise flood management interventions, better enforcement of land use change regulations ensuring that the floodplains are not utilised for development activities, effective solid waste management policies to prevent the choking of local drainage systems, and revival of urban green and blue spaces that can absorb excess water during flood events.”

The message is clear: Delhi’s floods are not just about heavy rain or an unruly river, they’re about choices. Without stronger land-use regulations, revived water bodies, and smarter planning, the Yamuna will continue to spill into the city each year, turning monsoon into a season of loss. But with foresight, Delhi could turn the tide transforming risk into resilience.

Swati Chaturvedi

Swati Chaturvedi, a seasoned media and journalism aficionado with over 10 years of expertise, is not just a storyteller; she’s a weaver of wit and wisdom in the digital landscape. As a key figure in News18 Engl…Read More

Swati Chaturvedi, a seasoned media and journalism aficionado with over 10 years of expertise, is not just a storyteller; she’s a weaver of wit and wisdom in the digital landscape. As a key figure in News18 Engl… Read More

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