It is time we realise the need to stop ignoring the glaring mismatch between our excellence in economic progress and technological advances on one hand, and our neglect to achieve similar excellence in adapting our cities to climate realities on the other. Excessive temperatures, floods, pollution, and unchecked migration are steadily pushing urban centres to the brink.

The warning signs are visible everywhere: indiscriminate felling of trees for construction, cement landscapes that trap heat, air conditioners multiplying and throwing hot air into congested spaces, dust swirling on broken roads, rivers turning toxic, and water shortages looming as aquifers run dry. This fragility is not abstract ~ it is lived reality, felt in the suffocating air, the parched taps, and the chaos of traffic where private vehicles dominate because public transport is inadequate. Unless infrastructure is aligned with climate realities, the mismatch between urban growth and environmental resilience will only deepen.

Nineteen of the world’s twenty hottest cities are in India, with summer temperatures touching 42-45°C and humidity compounding the danger of heat related illness. The urban heat island effect is intensified by the loss of trees and the spread of cement landscapes, while the surge in air conditioners provides temporary indoor relief but throws heated emissions into the streets and strains fragile power systems. Dust from construction sites and broken roads mixes with this heat, creating a toxic cocktail that citizens breathe daily.

The irony is striking ~ the very machines meant to cool us are heating our cities further, even as the green cover that once moderated temperatures vanishes. Urban planning has rarely acknowledged the ecological service of trees, treating them as obstacles rather than essential infrastructure. Every new flyover, mall, or housing complex seems to come at the cost of hundreds of trees, erasing shade, biodiversity, where birds and small animals lose their habitats, and citizens lose the cooling effect of green corridors.

Cement cities rise in their place, trapping heat and magnifying dust, while the absence of trees reduces rainwater absorption and worsens floods when heavy rains arrive. Another overlooked dimension of urban fragility is the material with which our cities are built. The dominance of cement and glass has created landscapes that radiate heat rather than absorb or moderate it. Housing colonies, office towers, and malls are designed for speed of construction, not for climate resilience. Traditional Indian architecture once relied on mud, lime, stone, and shaded courtyards that kept interiors cool........

© The Statesman