Barely five kilometres off the bustle of India’s financial hub — the city of Mumbai — Kalpana wakes up to a deceptively green expanse. Unlike most other Mumbai residents, who open their windows to each other’s balconies, she has the view all to herself — only because no one wants to share it.

The 31-year-old raises her three children by a vast wetland that floods every time it rains. Kalpana is one amongst the 40,000 residents of Ambojwadi, an informal settlement in northwestern Mumbai that is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Living in a low-lying area, surrounded by wetlands, mangroves and the coastline, they are amongst the first to be affected by floods and cyclones.

According to CEEW analysis, Mumbai district has recorded a three-fold increase in the frequency of extreme floods and a two-fold increase in the frequency of extreme cyclones since 2010.

Most of Kalpana’s neighbours flee their homes every monsoon. Those who can’t afford the seasonal migration collectively devise plans to stay afloat. “The climate has definitely changed over the last 10-12 years,” Kalpana says as she walks up to a common borewell to fetch two pots of water for her seven-member family. “I am worried for my children, especially when there are storms that can easily blow away our roofs.”

As a disaster is imminent, Kalpana and her neighbours want to be prepared. They have been surveying the climate-vulnerable areas in their settlement and building a first-response team with the help of a Mumbai-based community organisation, YUVA.

“This exercise was very useful. We don’t want people to get caught off guard in the event of a climate disaster,” says Amit, YUVA’s field coordinator in Ambojwadi. The team surveyed the settlement to identify areas more prone to flooding and cyclones.

The first-response team, formed with the participation of community leaders, women and youngsters, has been working closely with the civic government departments to deal with emergencies in the event of heavy rainfall or cyclone. They were even called in to support a rescue mission in the adjacent settlement, Malwani.

Amit points out that the settlement has become more vulnerable after a large stretch of protective mangrove forest was destroyed for infrastructure projects. To raise awareness about the importance of mangrove conservation, YUVA has been engaging youngsters in the settlement through murals, street plays and film shows.

“We’re collectively trying to be better prepared as a community so that we can fight climate change in our own capacity,” Amit says.

Watch the full film here.