Does climate change make the coastal and Himalayan regions of India more vulnerable to disaster? Explain

📝Model Answer

Introduction

India recorded extreme weather events on 331 of 334 days in 2025, resulting in over 4,419 deaths, with the Himalayan states and coastal regions among the worst affected. Both regions — the ecologically fragile young fold mountains of the Himalayas and the low-lying, densely populated coastline — are increasingly bearing the brunt of climate change, confirming their heightened vulnerability to disasters.

Why the Himalayan Region is More Vulnerable

1. Glacial retreat and GLOF risk: Rising temperatures are accelerating the melting of Himalayan glaciers, increasing the frequency of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs), as seen in the 2023 South Lhonak (Sikkim) disaster.
2. Erratic and intensified rainfall: Climate change is altering monsoon patterns over the Himalayan foothills, increasing instances of cloudbursts and flash floods, such as the 2013 Kedarnath floods and the 2025 Uttarkashi (Dharali) disaster.
3. Slope instability and landslides: Permafrost thaw and changing snowfall-rainfall patterns are reducing the structural stability of mountain slopes, making the region more prone to landslides and debris flow.
4. Fragile young geology: Being the world’s youngest and most tectonically active fold mountains, the Himalayas are inherently unstable, and climate-induced stress compounds this fragility.
5. Multi-hazard, compounding disasters: The region increasingly experiences overlapping hazards — floods triggering landslides, or glacial melt worsening downstream flooding — amplifying overall damage.
6. Unplanned development pressure: Rapid infrastructure expansion (roads, hydropower, tourism) into high-risk terrain in states like Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Sikkim, often without adequate risk assessment, is intensifying disaster exposure.

Why the Coastal Region is More Vulnerable

1. Rising sea levels: Climate change-driven sea-level rise threatens to inundate India’s low-lying coastal zones, increasing the risk of permanent land loss and displacement.
2. Intensifying cyclones: Warming of the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal has led to more frequent and severe cyclones, with Odisha and Andhra Pradesh recording the highest cyclone-related disaster incidence among Indian states.
3. Coastal flooding and storm surges: Rising sea surface temperatures are increasing storm surge intensity, threatening densely populated coastal cities like Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata.
4. Saltwater intrusion: Sea-level rise combined with storm surges causes saltwater intrusion into coastal aquifers and agricultural land, degrading freshwater and soil resources.
5. Loss of natural buffers: Large-scale destruction of mangroves, wetlands, and sand dunes due to unplanned coastal urbanisation has reduced natural protection against cyclones and flooding.
6. Marine heatwaves: Increasing marine heatwave days in the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean are projected to rise sharply by mid-century, affecting fisheries, ecosystems, and coastal livelihoods.

Way Forward

1. Strengthen early warning systems: Expand real-time, localised forecasting for cloudbursts, GLOFs, and cyclones, and ensure last-mile dissemination of alerts to vulnerable communities.
2. Enforce eco-sensitive planning: Regulate road-building, hydropower, and tourism infrastructure in the Himalayas through strict ecological norms, informed by expert reports such as the Gadgil Committee.
3. Restore natural buffers: Undertake large-scale afforestation in hill slopes and restore mangroves, wetlands, and sand dunes along the coast to naturally absorb disaster impacts.
4. Adopt multi-hazard, risk-informed development: Integrate hazard and vulnerability mapping into infrastructure planning in both regions before construction, rather than reactive rebuilding after disasters.
5. Build community-level resilience: Empower local bodies and panchayats with disaster-preparedness plans, risk maps, and training, especially in high-risk mountain and coastal districts.
6. Strengthen coastal protection measures: Expand Integrated Coastal Zone Management, invest in sea walls and flood-resilient housing, and regulate unplanned coastal construction.
7. Map and monitor glacial lakes: Systematically identify and monitor high-risk glacial lakes in the Himalayas, and restrict construction activity in their immediate vicinity to reduce GLOF exposure.
8. Strengthen institutional coordination and funding: Ensure better convergence between central agencies (NDMA, IMD, GSI) and state disaster management authorities, backed by adequate and timely allocation of funds such as the SDRF for both mountain and coastal states.

Conclusion