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For Rohan and his friends, going to school had never been such an ordeal. What was normally a short walk suddenly turned into a perilous adventure. They had to wade through chest-deep water, balancing their schoolbags above their heads or carefully navigate narrow, slippery paths lined with debris carried by the floodwaters, always watching for lurking venomous snakes.
Despite this, they were considered 'privileged'. Some of their friends, living in low-lying areas near the riverbank, had to negotiate over five feet of muddy water on makeshift rafts, precariously balanced on thin shafts of bamboo poles and banana trunks to reach school.
This is just a glimpse of how children had to cope with an unprecedented flood disaster in Varanasi a month ago. The overflowing Ganga and its tributary, the Varuna, wreaked havoc on the low-lying areas of villages Daniyalpur, Amarpur and Purana Pul, displacing over 400 families who were forced into makeshift shelters.
Varanasi was not the only place affected by the fury of this year’s hyperactive monsoon. North India, including parts of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR), experienced more rainfall than usual in a very short time. Heavily silted rivers overflowed, submerging vast areas of low-lying land.
Extreme weather events triggered by heavy rainfall also wreaked havoc in the northeastern states, particularly in Assam’s Brahmaputra and Barak valleys and the hilly regions of northern West Bengal. Marginalised communities, especially children, bore the brunt. Similar monsoon patterns were observed in Tripura, Maharashtra and Karnataka. Even as I write, alarming news is emerging from Gujarat, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, where the flood situation remains dire.
Who could forget the devastating landslides in Wayanad, Kerala, which swallowed at least four villages and claimed hundreds of lives? Similar landslides have cut off roads and bridges, isolating large areas in the sub-Himalayan regions of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Sikkim.
It is often challenging to quantify the full impact of disasters on children, particularly in marginalised and resource-poor communities. However, we can easily imagine the chain of events that follows — schools closing as they are transformed overnight into rescue centres, Anganwadi services paralysed by waterlogged Integrated Child Development Scheme centres, diarrhoea outbreaks among children due to contaminated drinking water and healthcare facilities crippled by shortages of staff and supplies like halogen tablets and saline due to disrupted transport. Families are forced to migrate in search of a better livelihood and in the chaos, many children go missing or may fall victim to trafficking.
While excessive rainfall is a visible killer, heatwaves are its invisible counterpart. Recent global estimates suggested that 2023-24 is set to be the hottest period in recorded history. This means that for the past 13 months (from June 2023 to June 2024), each month has been the warmest ever recorded for that time of year. It is even predicted that 2024 could surpass 2023 as the hottest year since global temperature records began in the mid-1800s.
India has not been exempt from these global trends. Since March 2024, extreme heatwave conditions have persisted in Rajasthan, Delhi-NCR, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Telangana andhra Pradesh and Odisha, with temperatures exceeding 45 degrees Celsius.
In drought-prone areas of Rajasthan, our local partner organisations reported erratic weather patterns, with prolonged heatwaves followed by the highest rainfall in 50 years. Northern and central Rajasthan experienced floods, while southern Rajasthan endured drought. Reports indicated that 37 of 50 districts received abnormally high rainfall, while in southern Rajasthan, more than 60 per cent of wells and ponds have dried up, causing severe water shortages and a significant reduction in Kharif crop planting.
Even Jammu and Kashmir, typically known for its pleasant summers, faced extreme heat this year, with temperatures around 35°C in late July and significant rainfall deficits. These clear signs of shifting climatic patterns highlight the urgency of protecting our children from the effects of climate change.
As we already know, children are particularly vulnerable to prolonged heatwaves, as their bodies heat up faster and cool down more slowly than adults. As a result, they face an increased risk of dehydration and heatstroke, especially those with pre-existing health conditions. High temperatures can also lead to stress and poor sleep, affecting their overall wellbeing.
Heatwaves also disrupt children’s access to education and learning outcomes. In many states, schools close for extended summer holidays for more than a month and half, causing significant learning loss. In drought-affected districts, girls, in particular, are often tasked with helping their mothers fetch water from distant wells and tubewells, impacting both their education and health.
Addressing climate-related challenges faced by children requires coordinated efforts across multiple sectors. We must prioritise children in all climate initiatives and ensure resources are effectively allocated to meet their needs.
India has already implemented several policies and strategies to address climate change and reduce risks for children, while balancing development goals, in line with United Nations-mandated Sustainable Development Goal 13, which mandates “Taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts”.
The National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) plays a critical role in child-centric disaster risk reduction (DRR) by addressing children’s specific needs in disaster preparedness, response and recovery. NIDM adopts a zero-tolerance approach to situations that endanger children, integrating DRR with broader child development frameworks to merge humanitarian, development and climate initiatives.
While these initiatives and programmes are essential, raising public awareness is crucial for the successful implementation of child-centred climate policies in India. Efforts to increase awareness and community engagement on the impact of climate change on children are gaining traction, but much more needs to be done to build an informed citizenry and create a better future for our children.
Puja Marwaha is CEO at CRY — Child Rights and You.
Views expressed are the author’s own and don’t necessarily reflect those of Down To Earth
