Delhi’s Yamuna Floods Signal Rising Monsoon Risks and Climate Vulnerability

Yamuna’s water level peaked at 207.48 metres on September 4 before starting to recede. Despite this, several areas across Delhi and neighbouring districts remained flooded on the morning of September 5, with the river at 207.33 metres at 7 am. 
 
Data from the Central Water Commission suggested that the river’s water level was stabilising after breaching the danger mark for two consecutive days amid heavy rainfall in the capital, reported HT.

Officials told PTI that the water was expected to recede further during the day. The river has battered low-lying areas in recent days, submerging homes, displacing people and affecting businesses.

However, the Delhi government’s irrigation and flood control department cautioned that water levels remain above the danger mark, causing waterlogging issues across the city. 

Floods and Global Warming 

Meanwhile after days of consistent rainfall, Delhi woke up to clear skies on September 5 with the India Meteorological Department forecasting a generally cloudy sky with moderate rain for the capital. 

The minimum temperature is expected to settle at 23 degrees Celsius while the maximum temperature is expected to be at 33 degrees Celsius. 

Water level in the river Yamuna reached the season’s highest at 207.48 metres on September 4. 

Experts told Associated Press (AP) that human-induced climate change is intensifying South Asia’s monsoons, which traditionally run from June to September and again from October to December. The rains now occur in erratic bursts that dump extreme volumes of water in short periods (also known as cloudburst) followed by dry spells instead of steady rainfall. 

This unpredictability is increasing the risk of floods in the South Asian region, one of the world’s most densely populated and climate-vulnerable areas. The experts further advised that the region must prepare for increasingly frequent and intense rain-related disasters. 

These local events are part of a larger pattern of intensifying rainfall linked to global warming. 

According to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, a programme of the European Union, 2024 was declared the warmest year with the average global temperature exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius above its pre-industrial level. The average temperature that year reached 15.1 degrees Celsius—1.6 notches above the pre-industrial era of 1850–1900. 

January 2025 globally was 0.09 degrees Celsius warmer than January 2024, the previous hottest January. It was also 1.75 degrees Celsius warmer than pre-industrial levels. 

Experts Warn of “New Normal” 

With Indian summers engulfed in heatwaves and extreme weather events so far, Anjal Prakash, author of several United Nations climate reports and professor at Hyderabad-based Indian School of Business, told AP that the intensity and frequency of such extreme rainfall events will continue to increase as we are living in a comparatively warmer world. He said this is the new normal.

Rapid urbanisation, deforestation and poorly planned infrastructure are adding to the flood risks, a trend supported by a 2023 ScienceDirect study, a scientific research platform.

The study confirmed that increases in urbanisation and severe weather events could lead to increased urban flood occurrences, with their intensity projected to increase in the coming years.