THE new sunday express MAGAZINE Voices Devdutt Pattanaik Ravi Shankar Dr Alka Pande Dinesh Singh Dr Ramya Alakkal Mata Amritanandamayi Buffet People Wellness Books Food Art & Culture Entertainment February 1 2026 SUNDAY PAGES 12 The Disaster Diary A team of environment experts identify cities and towns that could be the next dangerous hotspots F By Sneha Mahale loods? Let’s wait until the next one. Hill towns disappear? Never mind, let the construction continue. Drought? What are water tankers for? In the face of such indifference to death and disaster, experts now warn that India’s climate threats are expanding into previously overlooked low coastal flats, fragile deltas, seismic valleys, Himalayan pilgrimage towns, and fresh landslide corridors across the Northeast. Climate disasters have shifted from isolated shocks to overlapping transformations that are sneakily redrawing the country’s physical map. Coastal regions just metres above sea level face tides pressing inland through drains and rivers; deltas risk being redrawn and mountain settlements built on overstrained slopes are collapsing under cloudbursts and seismic tensions. Forest belts that once cooled the land are hotter while cities sit at the intersection of extreme heat and collapsing drainage. With more than 80 per cent of the population exposed to hydrometeorological extremes and nine states ranked among the world’s most at-risk regions, eco-vulnerability now cuts across coastlines, mountains, deltas, forests, and megacities alike. Burning Red Seismic Shock Longer dry spells, rising heat, and fragmented forests are making India’s woodlands more fire-prone While on paper these cities are stable, people have forgotten that violent earthquakes can strike suddenly and hit harder than expected Nilambur, Kerala Rajkot (Gujarat) The ground is a problem since the region’s cracked geology can make earthquake shaking even worse (like how jello shakes more than solid ground). It’s influenced by the nearby Kutch fault system where the devastating Bhuj earthquake happened in 2001. Scientists predict shaking could be moderate to severe (0.19g to 0.39g). As one contractor explains: “Buildings go up fast, but few follow seismic norms”—meaning construction is booming but builders aren’t following earthquake safety rules. Engineer Satyaprakash Mishra says the city needs detailed soil studies for each area, city-level earthquake design teams, proper training for builders and engineers, fixing old unsafe buildings and better coordination between authorities. Without urgent action, it could face a disaster like the 2001 Bhuj earthquake that killed thousands. Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh) The marble city sits on a dangerous crack in the Earth’s crust (the Narmada-Son-Tapti fault line). Think of it like a city sitting on a cracked foundation of one of the most earthquakeprone cities in central India. Most neighbourhoods haven’t checked if their buildings are earthquake-safe. People have forgotten about the big earthquake that hit in 1997. As one resident says: “No one thinks it can happen again”—but it definitely could. The city needs detailed, neighbourhood-byneighbourhood earthquake safety rules (called microzonation), updated local building codes that work with India’s national and state disaster management authorities (NDMA and SDMA). Jabalpur is in a dangerous spot for earthquakes, and urgently needs better safety rules enforcement. Lahaul & Spiti (Himachal Pradesh) The Heat is On Irresponsible urbanisation, concrete paving and shrinking green cover are intensifying extreme heat events About 57 per cent of Indian districts are at high to very high risk to extreme heat, with 76 per cent of the population at risk. Lahaul & Spiti lead the heatwave intensity index across India. “Their intensity of heatwaves is increasing overall in India,” says Kashif Imdad, geology professor and UPSDMA member, adding reduced moisture in the soil is responsible for growing heat even in cold-desert zones. Warmer temperatures and shifting precipitation are reducing snow cover and straining water resources. State and national disaster institutions must strengthen heat and climate-adaptation planning, by especially paying attention to high-altitude zones. Better monitoring of temperature and precipitation trends will help people in the region to survive heat better. Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) UP’s capital faces serious climate danger. Unbridled construction on farm land, vegetation, and water bodies is driving hotter surface temperatures and a stronger heat-island effect—when a city is turned into a heat trap by asphalt, concrete, and dark roofs that absorb solar radiation storing heat and releasing it slowly, reduced vegetation, tall buildings that trap heat and block cooling winds, creating “urban canyons”, waste heat from air conditioners, vehicles, and industrial processes, air pollution that trap heat, contributing to higher temperatures. “The number of heatwave days has significantly increased,” says Imdad. Experts feel cooling centres—air-conditioned public spaces set up during extreme heat as part of a city’s heatwave response system are a must. Accessible drinking water is essential, alongside a better warnings system. Nilambur’s forests and plantations are increasing wildfire risk. “This fragmentation alters fuel continuity and dryness, increasing ignition potential,” says Yara Sultan of the Vel Tech Rangarajan Dr Sagunthala R&D Institute, noting that extended spells and human ignition—over 90 per cent of forest fires—drive the trend. “Delayed detection allows small fires to escalate rapidly she adds, amid weak ,” funding, data integration and inter-agency coordination. The solution could be to set up communitybased fire management committees, real-time integration of satellite fire data, and better fuel management. Long-term resilience, Sultan says, depends on “stable budgets for fire management and cooperation between ministries.” Agra: The immortal Taj Mahal is feeling the heat, causing structural strain from intense heat radiation from red sandstone and burning dust from the dry Yamuna river bed. Dense concrete paved zones, the usual Indian urban features are heat culprits which trap humidity Congested neighbourhoods, . limited shade, and water stress pose serious risks to vendors, guides and transport workers. “By noon the heat from the stones and the road feels like it’s coming from below your feet,” says Rafiq, a rickshaw driver working near the Taj Mahal complex. Absolutely essential are drinking water stations in high-footfall tourist areas, shaded pathways, cooling shelters, regulated work-rest cycles for outdoor workers, and embedding heat-resilient design standards into all future development plans to ease the stress.