It's just not you: Rain breathes fresh life into flora & fauna, replenishes wetlands

There is more to the monsoon in Delhi than civic issues or soothing daytime temperatures. The season that residents crave for after persistent heatwaves also revives and recharges greenery and dilutes pollution, thereby ensuring their survival.

- Kushagra Dixit

New Delhi: With the southwest monsoon anticipated to hit in a few weeks, semi-arid Delhi and its parched flora, fauna and wetlands await rejuvenation. The city will see ephemeral (small plants) redefine its landscape and insects like cicadas, butterflies and dragonflies will help in pollination and aid avifauna as prey.

TOI takes a glimpse at how the monsoon revives Delhi's dwindling and fragile ecosystem by pampering its flora, fauna, soil, air and waterbodies, thereby strengthening them to sustain yet another year marred with degradation and extreme weather events.

Naturalist and environmentalist Pradip Krishen said, "Monsoon makes a big impact on plants with small root systems that can't survive in summers, but are key to the ecological balance. They germinate with the first showers, change the landscape of the city by making it green, flower and lay seeds and die after the rains, leaving the seeds dormant till the next season. These small plants hold the key to the sustenance of Delhi's ecosystem."