The past few years have seen a growing number of extreme weather events (EWEs) and associated critical infrastructures (CIs) losses in India. Thus, research into CIs as essential for the upkeep of vital societal functions is vital since contemporary cities were not designed with climate change in mind. The main purpose of this research is to assess the ‘criticality’ of CIs as interdependent systems and assess cascading impact of climate change linked extreme weather events on the system of CIs. The study first identifies CIs and EWEs in Indian context by analysing data on Government spending on infrastructure, and metrological data on EWEs which have occurred in the past 3 years (2017–2019). Furthermore, interdependencies matrices are categorized based on driving power and dependence on of CIs application of cross-impact matrix multiplication into four quadrants—Quadrant 4 Independent (disruption will cause the maximum cascading impact on other CIs), Quadrant 3 Linkage (considered unusable CIs), Quadrant 2 Autonomous (relatively disconnected, can function without support), and Quadrant 1 Dependant (highly dependent on support infrastructure). To develop the matrices, a focus-group workshop was undertaken in which 27 experts participated. 18 identified CIs are assessed for their dependency and driving power and are again assessed for their driving power against 10 EWEs. Findings show that in the first matrix there are 4 Independent, 3 Linkage, 4 Dependant, and 7 Autonomous CIs. In the second matrix when EWEs are introduced, there are 5 Independent, 0 Linkage, 6 Dependant, and 5 Autonomous CIs, and two CIs are classified by a term coined by the authors ‘cascading criticality’ wherein dependency and driving power are equal: Urban Infrastructure and Education. The entry of education as both dependent and driver for smooth functioning of complex CI systems is a novel concept that requires focused research because it offers a long-term sustainable solution for enhancing resilience of cities.