This article explores the severe and immediate impacts of climate change across northern India, highlighting the disconnect between policy and the grim realities faced by the region’s inhabitants. It examines the crisis unfolding from the fertile plains of Uttar Pradesh to the fragile slopes of Uttarakhand and emphasizes the urgency for local and systemic responses.
Across northern India, the rhythms of life are being broken by a force once invisible. Climate change, long debated in conference halls and policy papers, is now hammering the villages and towns of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand with unrelenting intensity. This is no longer a forecast. It is a daily reckoning. In the drying fields of Raebareli, the drowning farms of Lakhimpur Kheri, the crumbling slopes of Chamoli, the choking air of Dehradun, and the overheating sprawl of Lucknow, climate change has arrived — and it is unraveling health, livelihood, and heritage. With data gathered with the help of AIM Trust1 and UYRDC2, and voices from those living through it, this investigation exposes the stark disconnect between government policy and ground reality. It reveals a pattern of systemic neglect — and the quiet power of community-led solutions.
The causes of the crisis
Climate change is primarily driven by the accumulation of greenhouse gases3 such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide in the atmosphere. These gases trap heat, leading to global warming and widespread disruptions in weather patterns. According to the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report4, human activities — especially fossil fuel combustion, deforestation, and industrial emissions — are the dominant cause of observed warming since the mid-20th century.
In India, the pressure of rapid urbanization, unregulated construction, overuse of groundwater, and rising automobile emissions compounds the problem. The State of India’s Environment 2024 report5 notes that the country has lost over 1.6 million hectares of forest cover between 2001 and 2023. Meanwhile, coal continues to power over 70% of India’s electricity generation, making a swift energy transition critical.
Raebarli: heat, dust, and despair
In Raebareli, where once the Sai River snaked gently through fields of mustard and paddy, farmers now walk cracked earth with despair in their eyes. The region, part of the fertile Indo-Gangetic plains, is now witnessing frequent droughts, extreme temperatures, and collapsing yields. Meteorological data shows a 1.6°C increase in average temperature over 20 years, alongside a 30% drop in average rainfall in the past decade. But climate is only part of the story. Deep borewells have dried aquifers. Failed monsoons have pushed even marginal farmers into debt traps. Munni Devi, a 68-year-old farmer in the Lalganj block, remembers when harvests filled the house. “Now, even the wells have no water. We are burning more diesel for irrigation, and earning less.” Across age groups, there’s a deepening frustration. Pawan, a 17-year-old school student, says, “Our classes are often canceled because of heatwaves. The fans don’t work because electricity fails in the afternoon.”
Lakhimpur Kheri: flooding the future
In Lakhimpur Kheri, on the Nepal border, the land is fertile — but also increasingly flooded. Once a hub of sugarcane production, it now lies at the mercy of extreme rainfall, swollen rivers, and weak embankments. Manglesh, a local coordinator with AIM Trust, explains, “Floods used to come once a decade. Now they come every year. The Sarayan River is relentless.” AIM Trust’s data show that between 2017 and 2022, seasonal flood days increased by 40% in the region. Many farmers now abandon their land during the monsoon. Rani, 35, a mother of three in Tikunia village, says, “We can’t plan anything. School gets closed. Our animals drown. We take loans to rebuild every year.” Mohammed Aslam, 60, a weaver, notes, “My looms get damaged each monsoon. But no one from the government even checks.”
Climate data from AIM Trust shows a clear pattern: in the last ten years, Lakhimpur Kheri’s annual average rainfall has increased by 18%, but 70% of it now falls in just 35 days. This concentration of rainfall means more flash floods and fewer days for planned irrigation. Moreover, a 2023 NDMA6 report warned that low-lying districts along the Indo-Nepal border are likely to see intensified flood cycles due to erratic monsoons and upstream dam releases.
Chamoli: the mountains that tremble
In the upper Himalayas, the scars of climate change are deep and deadly. Chamoli, once synonymous with sacred shrines and apple orchards, now stands as a symbol of high-altitude collapse. In February 2021, a glacial burst in Chamoli triggered a flash flood that destroyed lives, bridges, and hydropower projects. Experts traced it to climate-induced glacier destabilization. The district sees an average of 350 landslides annually, nearly double the figure from a decade ago. Siddharth Negi, from UYRDC, says, “The old mountain ways are gone. Landslides now happen even in places that were once stable.” His colleague, Harpal Negi, adds, “Local knowledge of water sources, slope control — it is ignored by the planners. They want big dams. We want safe roads.” Chamoli’s youth are increasingly angry. Kavita Rawat, a 22-year-old student, says, “Why should we stay if every year there’s a new disaster? We live on edge, not by choice.”
UYRDC’s monitoring shows that over 65% of villages in Chamoli report some form of land instability annually. A 2022 CSE7 report confirmed that unregulated construction and road cutting have worsened slope fragility. In the words of Siddharth Negi, “A road is no longer a path of access — it is often the first wound before a disaster.”
Dehradun: choked in the shadow of hills
Downhill in Dehradun, once famed for its salubrious climate and lush forests, a different crisis is brewing — a choking, sweltering urban crisis. “Look around. The Mussoorie slopes are turning into concrete shelves,” says Harpal Singh Rawat, a young local contractor. “This isn’t development. It’s destruction. The drainage is gone. The air is worse than Delhi on some days.” According to IMD reports, Dehradun recorded its hottest April in 25 years last year. The forest cover in the district has shrunk by 18% since 2000. Sunita Sharma, 52, a retired schoolteacher, puts it simply: “The city is unlivable in summer now. Fans don’t help. Water doesn’t come. The rich build higher. The rest suffer.” 16-year-old Karan, cycling through the suburbs, says, “We can’t play cricket anymore. It’s too hot. And the air smells bad.”
Air quality data from 2023 collected by a student-led initiative shows that Dehradun exceeded safe PM2.5 levels8 on 129 days of the year. The worst-affected zones were schools and residential areas close to construction belts. A Down To Earth analysis linked the worsening AQI9 in Uttarakhand cities to vehicular density and unregulated hillside blasting.
Lucknow: the boiling heart of the plains
In Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh’s sprawling capital, climate stress is visible in every crack in the road, every dry tap, every parched tree. The Gomti River — once the city’s lifeline — now flows like a polluted trickle, choked by encroachments and untreated waste. The average number of heatwave days in Lucknow has doubled since 2000. The city recorded 50°C real-feel days in 2023. Urban heat islands10 have worsened due to paving, vehicle density, and tree loss. Rakesh Verma, 45, who works at a construction site, says, “We start work at 5 AM and stop by 10. After that, it’s hell. One of our men fainted last week.” Meanwhile, 12-year-old Faiza recounts how her asthma has worsened. “I can’t go to school without my inhaler. The dust chokes me.”
According to a Hindustan Times investigation, Lucknow recorded a 30% increase in summer electricity demand in 2023 due to prolonged heatwaves, straining the grid and leaving many without power during peak heat hours. The State of India’s Environment 2024 report notes that Lucknow is among the top ten cities with rising nighttime temperatures, worsening the heat stress for slum-dwelling populations without access to cooling.
Global responses, India’s silence
As floods drown cities from Jakarta to Nairobi, and wildfires rage from Canada to Greece, the global south is demanding climate justice. Internationally, frameworks like the Loss and Damage Fund11 and calls for a fossil fuel phase-out have gained traction. Countries like Brazil and Kenya are experimenting with green adaptation models that integrate local knowledge and climate finance.
India, meanwhile, continues to push climate responsibilities onto state governments and citizens. Despite hosting COP12 meetings and being a signatory to major climate accords, the country’s domestic adaptation funding remains limited. The National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change (NAFCC13) received less than ₹100 crore in the 2023-24 Union Budget — a fraction of what’s needed.
Dr. Aarti Gupta, a climate policy expert, says, “India wants to lead in diplomacy but lags in delivery. There’s silence where action is needed — especially for the most vulnerable.”
Conclusion: the climate is local
From the alluvial plains of Lakhimpur to the fractured peaks of Chamoli, India’s climate emergency is hyper-local — and so must be the solutions. Communities are stepping up where systems fail. AIM Trust is helping farmers adopt water-conserving seeds. UYRDC is training young people in slope stabilization and landslide monitoring. In Lucknow, local youth have launched tree-planting drives in urban slums.
But these efforts are patchwork, not policy. Without coordinated climate governance, these regions will be left to weather the storm alone. What’s needed is urgent: decentralized planning, sustained investment, and a leadership that listens. Because the climate is no longer a future threat. It’s the present we are all living through — unevenly, but undeniably.
- AIM Trust: A non-governmental organization focused on environmental research and community initiatives in India, aimed at mitigating the impacts of climate change through data collection and local involvement. and are NGOs working in the northern parts of India. ↩︎
- UYRDC (Uttarakhand Youth and Rural Development Centre): An organization working in the Uttarakhand region, focusing on sustainable development, youth training, and disaster management. ↩︎
- Gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, which trap heat in the Earth’s atmosphere and contribute to global warming and climate change. ↩︎
- IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change): An international body responsible for assessing the science related to climate change, providing policymakers with scientific assessments on climate-related issues. ↩︎
- State of India’s Environment 2024 Report: An annual publication that provides an overview of environmental conditions and challenges in India, highlighting changes in forest cover, pollution, and climate impacts. ↩︎
- NDMA (National Disaster Management Authority): An Indian government agency tasked with coordinating responses to natural and man-made disasters, focusing on preparedness, prevention, and mitigation strategies. ↩︎
- CSE (Centre for Science and Environment): A public interest research and advocacy organization based in India, working on issues related to environment, sustainability, and policy formulation. ↩︎
- PM2.5: Particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers, often used as an indicator of air pollution. High levels of PM2.5 pose health risks as they can penetrate deep into the lungs. ↩︎
- AQI (Air Quality Index): A standardized indicator used to communicate how polluted the air currently is or how polluted it is forecast to become, based on levels of multiple pollutants including PM2.5 and PM10. ↩︎
- Urban Heat Islands: Urban or metropolitan areas that become significantly warmer than surrounding rural areas due to human activities, leading to increased energy consumption, higher emissions, and health problems. ↩︎
- Loss and Damage Fund: A proposed international mechanism to provide financial assistance to developing countries that suffer irreversible losses and damages due to climate change, particularly from extreme weather events. ↩︎
- COP (Conference of the Parties): The annual conference of the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), where international treaties and agreements on climate are negotiated. ↩︎
- NAFCC (National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change): An Indian government initiative aimed at financing projects that focus on climate change adaptation, helping vulnerable communities and ecosystems. ↩︎