Over the past two decades, Chennai has weathered a tsunami, repeated floods, and now, according to a new study, a rapidly worsening mix of heat and rain. Heatwave-preconditioned extreme rainfall events in the Chennai Metropolitan Area have nearly tripled over four decades, rising from an average of 1.2 events a year between 1982 and 1991 to 3.2 events a year between 2012 and 2021. When a heatwave comes before the rain, the same study finds, the population exposed to flooding rises elevenfold and the number of buildings affected rises seven-fold. A separate assessment projects that heatwave days in the city…
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Richa Mishra is an urban designer and researcher with a Bachelor's degree in Urban Design from CEPT University. Her work explores how questions of gender, mobility, housing and informal livelihoods intersect with the everyday experience of cities. She is particularly interested in understanding urban development through the experiences of communities and those often left out of formal planning processes. She currently works as a Project Associate with Habitat Forum (INHAF), contributing to the Housing & Cities Initiative.