This monsoon has once again shown how unprepared India is for extreme weather. Cloudbursts in Jammu and Kashmir killed more than 60 people in a week. Flash floods and landslides devastated Himachal and Uttarakhand. In cities such as Delhi, Bengaluru, and Mumbai, waterlogging brought life to a standstill, costing both lives and productivity. Scientists remind us that while climate change intensifies these events, poor planning and reckless development are what turn them into full-blown disasters. A decade of warnings has gone unheard: most cities still lack upgraded drainage, and the Himalayas continue to be ripped apart in the name of āall-weatherā connectivity.
The KiratpurāManali highway in Himachalās Mandi region is a case in point. Its unscientific widening has triggered land subsidence, cracked houses, and forced families to evacuate. Communities raised objections, and environmentalist Ravi Chopra cautioned that such projects would destabilise the mountains. Yet, financial institutions and government agencies alike continued to push funds into projects designed more for speed and visibility than for safety or resilience. For financiers, this looks like infrastructure growth. For mountain communities, it looks like displacement and danger.
The deeper issue is this: finance is underwriting disaster. Multilateral banks, national lenders, and even private investors are treating fragile ecosystems as blank slates for investment, without accounting for geological risks, climate stress, or local opposition. This not only erodes ecological stability but also exposes financiers to reputational, financial, and liability risks when projects collapse or cause human tragedy. Sustainable finance must mean redirecting capital away from blind road-building towards climate-resilient planning, disaster preparedness, and community-led adaptation. Otherwise, each rupee lent today will return tomorrow as mounting losses, in balance sheets, in broken lives, and a battered landscape.
– Team CFA
