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)
Spike in farmer suicides
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 21 Aug, 2016 08:47 PM

India witnesses 40 percent rise in farmer suicides in a year
A farmer in his field. (Source: India Water Portal)
Encroachment behind Chennai floods: Panel
Policy matters this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 21 Aug, 2016 08:36 PM

Encroachment of lakes and riverbeds caused Chennai floods: Panel
Rescue efforts during Chennai's floods. (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
Interlinking project needs reanalysis: IIT Study
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 16 Aug, 2016 09:53 AM

Not enough water available for interlinking rivers: IIT study 
Interlinking of rivers (Source: NIH)
Children of a lesser God
Underprivileged children are the most affected by Assam’s annual floods. Their schools washed away and health affected, they also fall prey to nefarious activities.
Usha Dewani
Posted on 09 Aug, 2016 10:32 PM

In what is considered the worst flood in a decade, the flood in Assam this year has swept over 2,800 villages away and submerged more than two lakh hectares of crop. More than 26 lakh people have been affected in 28 out of 34 districts of the state.
Children take refuge in temporary shelters. (Photo source: Jhai Foundation)
Assam, Bihar reel under severe flood
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 08 Aug, 2016 11:13 PM

One of the worst floods in Assam and Bihar
Flood in Bihar. (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
Community effort saves mangroves
When climate change threatens the existence of Sundarbans’ mangroves, villagers get together to plant millions of them to protect the fragile ecosystem.
Usha Dewani
Posted on 04 Aug, 2016 09:52 AM

Come monsoon, the villages in the Sundarbans islands witness nature’s fury with floodwaters overriding all boundaries and inundating huge tracts of land. As such, the earthen embankments, stretching to 3600 kms on the 54 inhabited islands out of a total of 102 in the Sundarbans, protect scores of people from floods and tidal waves.
Mangroves of Sundarbans. (Source: Nature Environment & Wildlife Society - NEWS)
Floods wreak havoc in many parts of the country
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 17 Jul, 2016 04:27 PM

Floods grip many parts of the country
Flooded Simen river in Brahmaputra basin (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
Pipara women realise pipe dream
Pipara village in the parched Bundelkhand region stands out for its uninterrupted water supply. The village has their women to thank for it.
Makarand Purohit
Posted on 01 Jul, 2016 12:03 PM

The cracks on the parched land of Bundelkhand are waiting for the monsoon to quench the thirst of its arid landscape. Despite the wide-spread drought here, Pipara, one of the villages in the region, stands apart as the only one that has not run completely dry. 
Women fill water from one of the taps at Pipara.
Delhi water tanker scam: Sheila Dixit to be probed
Policy matters this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 18 Jun, 2016 10:19 AM

Former Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit to be probed in water tanker scam
Water tankers fill in water (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
Karnataka, Tamil Nadu fight over Cauvery water sharing
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 18 Jun, 2016 10:04 AM

Karnataka and TN at cross roads over Mekedatu river project
Cauvery river at Hogenakal, Karnataka (Source: IWP Flickr Photos via Claire Arni and Oriole Henri)
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