Early monsoon woes show why Indian cities must plan for climate change

Mumbai is the centre of India's banking and financial services, and is headquarters to most of India's largest corporate groups

A record-breaking early onset of the monsoons brought Mumbai, India’s financial capital, to a standstill, offering municipal and state administrators across the country yet another warning of the perils of poor urban planning in an era of climate change. The arrival of the rains on May 26, almost a fortnight ahead of its annual schedule, hit Mumbai just two days after it crossed the Kerala coast. This development appears to have wrong-footed all the authorities concerned, starting with the India Meteorological Department (IMD). After issuing a “yellow alert” (signifying 64.5 -115.5 mm on rain) in the early morning, the IMD