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)
Nainital lake drying up, human activities to blame
News this week
Aarti Kelkar Khambete
Posted on 30 May, 2017 11:52 AM

Nainital lake is drying up, environmentalists concerned
A view of the Nainital lake. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Shrinking wetlands leave J&K high and dry
Wetlands play a major role in the sustenance of lives and livelihoods in Kashmir. Urbanisation, however, spells doom for the "paradise on earth".
Safeena Wani
Posted on 25 May, 2017 11:33 AM

When torrential downpour submerged thousands of villages and claimed about 300 lives in Jammu & Kashmir in September 2014, loss of wetlands was cited as one of the reasons that aggravated the impact of the natural disaster.
A boatman carries vegetables produced from floating gardens. (Source 101Reporters)
Centre asks states to prepare for monsoon failure
Policy matters this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 16 May, 2017 10:20 AM

Centre urges states to gear up for possible monsoon failure
A community well (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Karnataka women to tackle water woes
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 16 May, 2017 10:03 AM

Women in drought-hit Karnataka takes on the task to revive lakes
Women on a mission to tackle water woes. (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
In the name of development
The indigenous community of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands has been systematically alienated from their land by the colonial and post-colonial policies. A new book chronicles the change.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 06 May, 2017 08:12 PM

Pankaj Sekhsaria’s recent book Islands in flux--The Andaman and Nicobar Story is a collection of around 20 years of his writings on the environmental and conservation concerns faced by the indigenous tribal communities of the region.
The forests and the tribal communities of the islands are being decimated. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Water scarcity amidst plenty
Despite having many water sources nearby, Chavadiyur hamlet in the Attappadi region is facing a drought-like situation, thanks to institutional failure.
Jayashree Vaidyanathan
Posted on 05 May, 2017 08:07 PM

In a tribal settlement called Chavadiyur in the Attappadi region in Kerala, the summer has begun. It is already facing severe water shortage. The scarcity of water in the region has been exacerbated by the significant decrease in rainfall during both the southwest and the northeast monsoons.
Source of water for the community. (Photo by V.JAYASREE)
Now a human, Ganga receives its first legal notice
Policy matters this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 02 May, 2017 08:42 AM

After becoming a human entity, Ganga river receives first legal notice
Ganga near Gadmukteshwar (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
Karnataka's drought solution: Dig 1 km deep borewells
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 02 May, 2017 08:36 AM

Ambitious solution to curb Karnataka's drought
A borewell in Chitradurga, Karnataka (Source: IWP flickr photos)
2017 will have normal rains: IMD
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 25 Apr, 2017 01:29 AM

Normal monsoon expected this year: IMD
Rainfall in India (Source: India Water Portal via Varun Duta Gupta)
Groundwater extraction rampant in four states
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 18 Apr, 2017 12:04 PM

Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana vulnerable to severe water scarcity
A well in Rajasthan (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
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