Sunita Narain's Desk: This crisis is of our making
We are living through catastrophic times that will bring even mighty mountains to their knees
Punjab deluge: Plan or perish
People in Sajada village of Amritsar unload cattle feed from a truck to distribute to farmers. With the August floods having washed away fodder crops, farmers sought supplies from other villages Rivers that water Punjab were already flowing at capacity due to heavy rain in upstream states, when a record August monsoon made them flood simultaneously. What fuelled the deluge?
Infographic: Why Punjab flooded
Farmer Sukhwinder Singh uses a wooden boat to commute in his village, Fatehgarh Sabrah, near Harike town, after the recent floods. The inundation has completely destroyed Singh’s vegetable fields. He saw similar damage in 2023, leading to huge crop lossesHeavy rains over the last two weeks of August in Punjab, combined with torrential downpours in upstream Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh that swelled the rivers, triggered the state’s worst floods since 1988
Column: Dams contributed to deluge
Screengrab from a video showing the broken gate of the Madhopur Headworks on the Ravi in Pathankot.Missed flood forecasts, miscalculation of flows and the resultant delayed operation of dams exacerbated the disaster in Punjab
Column: Questions on management
BSF men help flood-affected people in Punjab.Curbing reckless and illegal planning, better agricultural strategies
key to save Punjab from floods
Column: Legal flaw in the flow
The Bhakra Dam on the Sutlej in Bilaspur district, Himachal Pradesh.Storing water for non-riparian states reduces the capacity of Bhakra and Pong dams to accommodate heavy inflow
Himalayas: Melted like wax
From June 1 to September 5, 2025, rainfall in Uttarakhand was 24 per cent in excess. Most of the rain occurred in a short period, leading to flash floods and landslides The Western Himalayas have taken a severe hit this monsoon, as shifting wind patterns fuel extreme weather events across the region
Debate: Western Himalaya at point of no return?
Is the frequent, intense spate of disasters an indication of the mountains reaching their limits? Scientists weigh in
Nationwide havoc: Clouds of crisis
Indi Devi, a resident of Degadari Chogagutu village in Ranchi district, Jharkhand, lost her 52-year-old husband to a lightning strike in August 2025. The state has recorded 214 deaths due to lightning so far this yearThe year 2025 will be remembered as one in which normal rainfall masks an abnormal reality of destruction and weather extremes
Column: A striking trend
India has seen a 400 per cent rise in lightning strikes in the past five years
Ozone Day: A slow healing
Areas of low ozone above Antarctica in September 2025 (above) and in September 2000. The purple and blue regions are where there is the least ozone, and the yellows and reds are where there is more ozoneGlobal action is mending the ozone layer, but unregulated short-lived chlorinated emissions by industries are delaying full recovery