How does climate change-induced extreme rainfall increase risks to India's ageing urban and transport infrastructure? Discuss with examples.

Q. How does climate change-induced extreme rainfall increase risks to India's ageing urban and transport infrastructure? (15 marks, 250-350 words)

Studies by IMD and Ministry of Earth Sciences institutions confirm rising frequency of heavy rainfall events in recent monsoons [1]. When such intensified rainfall meets colonial-era and poorly maintained assets, ordinary weather becomes a structural hazard — as the July 2026 collapse of the ~150-year-old clock tower at Kozhikode railway station showed [3].

Structural fatigue of ageing assets - Old brick-and-lime masonry absorbs moisture and loses cohesion under prolonged saturation; the Kozhikode tower, part of a line opened in 1888, fell after days of heavy rain despite cracks noticed a day earlier [3]. - Ageing bridges, culverts and station buildings were designed for historic rainfall return periods, now exceeded more often.

Amplification in urban catchments - NDMA notes urbanisation raises flood peaks 1.8 to 8 times and volumes up to 6 times, so the same rain stresses drains, embankments and foundations far harder [2]. - Concretisation, encroached wetlands and choked stormwater drains cause waterlogging and scouring around track formations and road sub-bases.

Cascading transport and economic disruption - Rail and road are network systems — one failed span or flooded platform delays trains across a corridor, as train services on the Mangaluru–Thiruvananthapuram route were on the day of the collapse [3]. - Repair and rerouting costs inflate large modernisation projects; over 1,338 stations are being rebuilt under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, much of it around live century-old structures [4].

Governance and audit gaps - Structural safety audits are episodic rather than climate-informed; risk was flagged only hours before failure at Kozhikode [3].

The risk is therefore compounded — a rising hazard meeting a weakening asset base inside dense, poorly drained cities. The way forward lies in mandatory periodic structural audits, revising IS design codes for updated rainfall intensities, heritage-sensitive retrofitting under ABSS [4], and using the India-led Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure to mainstream resilience into every new investment [5]. Building climate-proof infrastructure is essential to SDG 9 and SDG 11.

(~320 words)

Sources: 1. Ministry of Earth Sciences, Parliament Question: Studies for Climate Change (2026) — increasing frequency of heavy rainfall events 2. NDMA, National Guidelines on Management of Urban Flooding — urbanisation raises flood peaks 1.8–8 times 3. "Heavy rain brings down 150-year-old clock tower at Kozhikode railway station", The Hindu, 10 July 2026 — collapse, prior cracks, train disruption 4. PIB, Amrit Bharat Station Scheme — 1,338 stations identified; heritage-inspired redevelopment 5. PIB, Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure — India-led platform for climate- and disaster-resilient infrastructure