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)
Braving the deluge: Chennai's worst December
Chennai's limp back to normalcy will be slow and painful, especially for low-lying Velachery, Urapakkam, Kotturpuram and Saidapet which remain flooded even two days after the rain has let up.
Seetha Gopalakrishnan
Posted on 05 Dec, 2015 02:39 PM

Residents were convinced that November was the worst but stock taking and rehabilitation had to wait a week longer as the maniacal rains of December took everyone by surprise and completely crippled the city. According the

Rescue efforts underway in Kotturpuram, one of the Chennai's worst affected areas
WASH Educators Training (WET 2016) by VIKSAT
The training is directed towards creating and nurturing a cadre of young educators for better understanding of water and WASH issues.
Posted on 03 Dec, 2015 02:51 PM

About WET 2016
www.viksat.org
2016 might show worse impacts of El Nino, predicts WMO
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 01 Dec, 2015 08:51 PM

2015 the warmest year since 1850: WMO
Annual average temperature map (Source: Robert A. Rohde via Wikimedia Commons)
Mainstreaming India’s water and climate concerns: Reflections before COP-21
India’s INDC commitments show that it is serious about climate change but to effectively deal with the issue, all nations must actively engage in reducing their emissions.
Abhijit Sharan
Posted on 28 Nov, 2015 12:07 PM

“Climate Change has taken on political dimensions, that’s odd because I don’t see people choosing sides over E=mc2 or other fundamental facts of science!” - Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist
INDCs will take centre stage at COP 21-UN Climate Change conference in Paris (Source: France Bleu)
Monsoon 2015: Chinks in Chennai's infrastructure exposed
Yet to recover from the torrential lashing, the low-lying city of Chennai is slowly piecing its life back together. How ironic for a state that was a pioneer in rainwater harvesting.
Seetha Gopalakrishnan
Posted on 19 Nov, 2015 09:34 PM

Chennai has historically been a water-starved region, but never rain-starved as it receives much of its annual quota during the northeast or ‘retreating’ monsoon between October and December. But this November was like no other. 
Flooded streets in Chennai
Saaf Mathe Ka Samaaj: A treasure of essays on life and water
In our blind pursuit of progress, has the equation between man and nature been lost? Anupam Mishra talks about people, the environment and the mislaid empathy between the two.
Anupam Mishra
Posted on 19 Nov, 2015 01:04 PM

‘Saaf Mathe Ka Samaaj’ is a compilation of 23 essays on people, land, air and water, on issues and concerns that plague them, and the deep and direct connect between society and the environment they live in. Anupam Mishra is a simple, down to earth man and a true Gandhian.
Saaf mathe ka samaaj': Essays by Anupam Mishra (Source: Anupam Mishra)
CPCB gets strict with non-compliant industries along the Ganga
Policy matters this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 16 Nov, 2015 09:34 PM

Respond immediately or face closure: CPCB to non-compliant industries along the Ganga
Ganga river at Sangam in Allahabad (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
Ponds--once a lifeline of India's agriculture--are being revived by some Punjab farmers
Farm ponds, rediscovered by a few farmers in Patiala, could be the answer to the state's growing groundwater crisis as they can harvest rainwater and cushion against flooding.
Manu Moudgil
Posted on 16 Nov, 2015 10:45 AM

The northern region of India is facing drought for the second consecutive year.
Harmesh Singh has taken to rainwater harvesting on his farm since the groundwater has gone down.
State Government's slow response caused 2013 flash floods: CAG
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 11 Nov, 2015 08:19 PM

CAG report blames Uttarakhand Government for 2013 flash floods
House washed away by the Uttarakhand floods (Source: IWP Flickr Photo)
Mansarovar or Gaumukh: Which is the source of the Ganga?
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 03 Nov, 2015 12:11 PM

NIH scientists to probe if Mansarovar is the source of Ganga
Bhagirathi river at its source, Gaumukh (Source: IWP Flickr Photo)
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