India Faces Ozone Threat, El Nino Risk and Data Centre Water Strain

Ground-level ozone is emerging as a year-round public health threat in India's cities, no longer confined to winter smog seasons, demanding integrated air quality and climate policy responses. A possible super El Nino in 2026 is raising concern among scientists about disruptions that could extend into 2027, while new data centre growth is drawing scrutiny for its outsized water and power consumption.

The issue highlights a range of intersecting environmental and social stresses facing India. Ozone pollution is reshaping India's air quality challenge, with pulmonologist S K Chhabra identifying ground-level ozone as one of the national capital's least appreciated public health threats. Climate models remain limited in their ability to predict El Nino behaviour in a warming world, according to Mariam Zachariah, research associate at Imperial College London. Delhi's heat hotspots are home to roughly half the city's population who live and work outdoors with limited adaptive capacity.

Forest rights remain contested, with district-level bodies increasingly refusing tribal populations the resource rights guaranteed under the Forest Rights Act. The latest NFHS-6 data suggests policymakers may need to focus on improving programme effectiveness and reach rather than expanding coverage. Youth movements are gaining momentum across India at a scale not seen in years, raising questions about whether these episodes will solidify into lasting social movements. India's growing data centre industry is drawing attention for consuming more water and power than entire nations, with calls for effective environmental regulation.

The issue also examines the opening of Abujhmad in Chhattisgarh, a region closed to the country for five decades, where villages in dense forests reveal the complex relationship between isolation, development and people's wellbeing. A proposed environmental tribunal is highlighted as a mechanism that would give people a statutory right to seek redress through a dedicated independent forum. The convergence of climate science, governance gaps and emerging social pressures points to a period of intensifying environmental policy debate across India.

Key figure — 2026 super El Nino probability approaching 100% by November