New Delhi, July 6 -- As we watch the horrific heat stress unfolding across Europe, with water jets and public pools helping cool residents, one reality becomes impossible to ignore: heatwaves always increase the demand for water. What if heat stress of this scale and intensity were to unfold in India? Would we have the water resources to cope? A report by the Indian think tank Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) suggests that 11 of India's 15 river basins are approaching severe water-deficient levels, potentially leaving 600 million people under high water stress. Water percolation is one way to alleviate this, as India relies on groundwater more than any other country for agriculture and drinking water. But another reality complicates the water challenge: tackling air pollution. The ministry of environment, forest and climate change said last year that National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) funds allocated to 82 cities should be used for five key activities, including end-to-end road paving. This helps control dust, an important measure for improving air quality. This presents a clear contradiction. Urban India must rapidly transform into sponge cities-ones with water bodies and permeable spaces that enable percolation-to combat climate change, including heat, water stress and biodiversity loss. Yet paving roads takes us in the opposite direction. What can we possibly do? An urgent first step is to design living pavements-with plants whose leaves can trap dust while allowing water to percolate. We do not yet know what will work best in different regions, but India's varied agroecological zones should test solutions that create a win-win. We do not have much time. Climate change is a stealthy beast that can strike at any moment....