Biggest Indian cities became wetter in the past 4 decades

Eleven Indian cities have become significantly wetter over the past four decades, with nine of them also highly vulnerable to climate hazards due to social and infrastructural weaknesses, according to a report published last week by non-governmental organisation WaterAid.

- Abhishek Jha

NEW DELHI:

The study, conducted by researchers from the University of Bristol and Cardiff University, analysed 112 cities worldwide, including the 100 most populous and 12 additional locations where WaterAid operates.

All 11 Indian cities examined—Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Kozhikode, Lucknow, Mumbai, Pune and Surat—showed increased wetness between 1982 and 2023. Ten of these cities ranked among the top 20 globally for increasing wetness, the report found.

Surat experienced the highest wetting trend among Indian cities and ranked third globally, while Colombo in Sri Lanka topped the global list. Conversely, Cairo in Egypt recorded the most severe drying trend.