Droughts and Floods

Featured Articles
December 12, 2022
Why farmers are not adopting crop insurance in India?
Study looks at behavioral biases in crop insurance adoption
Adoption rate of crop insurance low in India despite government efforts (Image: PxHere, CC0 Public Domain)
October 30, 2022
Slow disaster: Political ecology of hazards and everyday life in the Brahmaputra valley, Assam
This book by Dr. Mitul Baruah presents a fascinating, ethnographic account of the challenges faced by communities living in Majuli, India, one of the largest river islands in the world, which has experienced immense socio-environmental transformations over the years, processes that are emblematic of the Brahmaputra Valley as a whole. This is an excerpt from the book.
Floods are recurrent phenomena in Assam (Image: Mitul Baruah)
September 13, 2022
Chaos in a concrete jungle
Heavy rains and floods have battered Bengaluru yet again. Uncontrolled and unregulated development and concretisation of the city that pays no heed to the ecology and hydrology of the region needs to stop!
Urban flooding in Bangalore (Image Source: Thejas via Wikimedia Commons)
August 21, 2022
Floods – a boon than a bane!
Floods are not feared, but rather welcomed by the Mishing communities from Majuli island in Assam as they bring bountiful fish- a rich source of food, nutrition and livelihood for the community.
The Majuli island, a haven for fish (Image Source: Usha Dewani, India Water Portal)
August 10, 2022
Taming water - Irrigation and drought protection in colonial India and the present
The irrigation at all costs mindset and narrow policies for drought protection during the colonial rule ignored rainfed agriculture and local practices that sustained agriculture in the Bombay Deccan. This continues even today.
Recurrent droughts and the struggle for survival (Image Source: Gaurav Bhosale via Wikimedia Commons):
August 2, 2022
Floods in Assam - a boon or a bane for fish diversity?
The frequency and intensity of floods is on the rise in Assam spelling doom for fish biodiversity.
Life during floods in Assam (Image Source: Kausika Bordoloi via Wikimedia Commons)
Floods wreak havoc in Kerala
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 15 Aug, 2018 10:03 AM

Kerala floods take 38 lives, severe loss reported
An aeriel view of the flooded locality of Aluva after heavy rains in Kerala. (Source: India TV)
Yamuna river at its healthiest due to floodwater: Experts
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 07 Aug, 2018 06:58 PM

Yamuna river water quality improves, thanks to floodwater: Experts
Yamuna river in Delhi (Source: Sudhanshu Malhotra via IWP Flickr Photos)
Groundwater contamination adds to India's water woes
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 31 Jul, 2018 01:29 PM

India's water woes increase due to depleted and contaminated groundwater: Government
A well in Rajasthan. (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
The mystery of the monsoon
While scientists try to understand this unique phenomenon, the moody and often mysterious monsoon continues to challenge us to explore its different facets.
Aarti Kelkar Khambete
Posted on 30 Jul, 2018 07:38 PM

Monsoon, the season of rains, has a unique place in the heart of the people of India. This passionate burst of showers has been extensively documented, observed and studied by travellers, poets, scientists, farmers and more.

Extremely vital for agriculture and survival in India, the monsoon continues to be a mystery. But why?
Monsoon remains a mystery even now. (Image Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Not enough rain, Bihar stares at drought
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 24 Jul, 2018 12:45 PM

All districts but three in Bihar experience drought
Parched land during drought in India. (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
Chennai floods was man-made disaster: CAG
Policy matters this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 17 Jul, 2018 12:06 PM

CAG blames TN government for Chennai floods in 2015
Chennai floods in 2015 (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Climate hotspots to affect India's economy
Seven out of the top 10 climate hotspots in India in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, says a World Bank study.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 04 Jul, 2018 10:35 AM

A study by the World Bank indicates that due to rising temperatures and changing monsoon rainfall patterns from climate change, India’s gross domestic product (GDP) may dip by 2.8 percent (amounting to $1177.8 billion) by 205
Tribal and poverty hotspots coincide with climate hotspots. (Pic courtesy: Yann, Wikimedia Commons)
Maharashtra may exempt certain plastic items from ban
Policy matters this week
Aarti Kelkar Khambete
Swati Bansal
Posted on 03 Jul, 2018 11:14 AM

Maharashtra mulls exemption on 'certain' plastic items following crackdown on plastic
Maharashtra bans plastic. (Image Source: India Water Portal)
Five percent rainfall deficit recorded in June
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 03 Jul, 2018 10:30 AM

Monsoon shows a deficit of five percent in June
Agriculture needs to be made climate resilient. (Image Source: India Water Portal)
Creating community leaders to tackle disaster
Under UNICEF’s initiative to mitigate disaster risk, community leaders are created to make villages disaster ready.
Amita Bhaduri
Gorakhpur Environmental Action Group
Posted on 25 Jun, 2018 05:01 PM

Tired from the Baidyanath dhamyatra (pilgrimage) in the nearby town of Deoghar, Nunlal Kamath is stealing a quick nap on a charpoy outside his house. His house is right on the western bank of Kosi, north Bihar’s river of sorrow, in a particularly flood-prone area where there are no high grounds or flood platforms nearby.  
Village disaster management committee has built sand and boulder spurs to deflect floods at spots where bank erosion takes place. (Pic courtesy: GEAG)
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