A sweltering heat wave followed by torrential rain is not an uncommon sight in our ever-changing world anymore. The planet is heating up and every corner of the world is witnessing unprecedented extreme weather events that strike a note of fear into people’s hearts. Nestled in the Himalayan foothills in Uttarakhand, the capital city of Dehradun is no different.
Dehradun has a climate crisis on its hands – the city is hitting record temperatures every year, extreme weather events are wreaking havoc in the city and surrounding areas with a devastating toll on human life and health, and mitigation efforts seems a distant dream. Dehradun recorded one of its longest heat spells in history in summer 2024, with temperature hitting as high as 43 degrees Celsius across multiple days.
One of the biggest drivers of this crisis is the unplanned development of Dehradun – as it turns into a hub for people from the entire state and beyond, land and natural resources are being exploited to accommodate more people than the city is prepared to handle. The consequences: reduced forest cover, higher temperatures and a reduced quality of life for all.
Dehradun has grown exponentially in the past decades, becoming the centre for migration, job opportunities and a respite for people running away from soaring temperatures in northern India. Consequentially, the built up area in Dehradun has seen a significant increase in the decade spanning 2003-2023, registering a jump from 1.4% to 8.9%. As more and more people migrate to the city, natural land surfaces are turned into habitable zones to accommodate the sudden influx. Urban region in Dehradun has expanded by a whooping 80% in 27 years, with population and tourists in Dehradun growing rapidly.
The consequences of urbanisation are clearly felt with increasing intensity every year. Long gone are the pleasant summer days in the city as people shelter from record-breaking temperatures. The maximum temperature of Dehradun city has seen a consistent increase in line with the rest of the Himalayan region and the annual mean temperature of Dehradun has seen a continuous warming since it was deemed the capital of Uttarakhand. Additionally, 2024 saw Dehradun hit with severe heat waves and record-breaking temperatures in May and June, with maximum temperatures hitting above 40°C several times.
These unprecedented heat waves are not the only intense climate event to be observed in Dehradun, as it was followed by intense rain that left low-rising areas of the city reeling from severe monsoon flooding. Instances of flash floods, landslides and house collapses have been observed in the Himalayan foothills with increasing intensity every year. Urbanisation has been proven to be a major driver behind short duration rainfall extremes which lead to flash floods. Additionally, cities like Dehradun which experience compact development activities where extreme development is concentrated on specific parts of the city tend to record higher frequency of extreme rainfall within those parts.
These facts are alarming when observed within the context of an increasingly unstable Himalayan region which is following the opposite trend as compared to the rest of the country – while instances of summer monsoon and related cloudbursts are decreasing in the rest of the country, in the Himalayan foothills they’ve registered a significant increase. Instances of extreme rainfall took several lives in Dehradun in 2024 and the monsoon season witnessed an unprecedented surge in landslides in the state, claiming 82 people while 28 were reported missing.
Extreme weather events like cloudburst and landslides are common in the Himalayan foothills but the unplanned development in the region has alarmingly increased their intensity and occurrence. In areas like the Himalayas where excessive deforestation and loss of forest cover should be avoided, the opposite seems to be happening. Out of all districts in Uttarakhand, Dehradun has lost the highest amount of forest area in a span of 20 years (November 2000-March 2020) with 21,303 hectares lost.
Extreme heat and extreme rainfall are just two examples of what Dehradun is facing, and is expected to face with higher intensity, due to climate change. With people’s lives and livelihoods at risk, it is imperative to start conversations around climate mitigation that transform into tangible actions to ensure a safe future for the people of Dehradun.
A former journalist, Veronica has switched to working in the field of social development, and has a deep interest in issues surrounding inequality, gender, and climate change. She also tracks the role media and communications play in furthering social growth.
Dehradun Urban Agenda (DUA) is a special Blog Series by SDC Foundation on the upcoming civic elections in Dehradun. It carries voices and thoughts of citizens who strive to make Doon liveable and sustainable.
