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)
Rs 2000 crore action plan to restore mining ravaged areas in Karnataka
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 09 Feb, 2015 01:54 PM

Karnataka sets up firm to mitigate mining impacts
Coal mines in Jharsuguda
Water news: A recap of 2014
Water made big news in 2014 with the formation of the new Water Ministry, initiation of the Swachh Bharat Mission, disasters due to erratic weather, and several scientific achievements.
Swati Bansal
Posted on 05 Jan, 2015 09:58 PM

New Water Ministry, Clean Ganga Portal, Ganga Manthan: Goverment makes efforts towards rejuvenating the Ganga
Sunset at Gadmukhteshwar
My disappearing land: Majuli
Majuli, a large river island in the Brahmaputra that is also a cradle of Assamese culture, is slowly shrinking due to the river's wrath, and the lives of the people ebbs and flows with it.
Usha Dewani
Posted on 02 Jan, 2015 07:50 PM

The Brahmaputra, one of the mightiest rivers in the world, has many stories to tell as it journeys from Tibet through India and finally finds its way to the Bay of Bengal. Sadly, many of these tales are not happy. Known for its disastrous flooding, the monsoon season is play time for the river.
House on stilts (Chang ghar) in Majuli
2014-drought in Maharashtra worse than the 2012 one
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 23 Dec, 2014 11:58 PM

Maharashtra drought this year is worse than 2012 drought
Drought in Maharashtra
Droughts in Maharashtra: Lack of management or vagaries of climate change?
None of our policies seem to be designed keeping in mind the farmer and his convenience, says Suneel Joshi, State Coordinator for Jal Biradari, in an interview with India Water Portal.
Aarti Kelkar -Khambete
Posted on 18 Dec, 2014 08:24 AM

Recent news has been flooded with reports of the severe drought situation in the Marathwada and Vidarbha regions of Maharashtra. Even more shocking are the reports of large-scale suicides by farmers due to crop losses.
Severe droughts (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Can we reverse the outcomes of climate change for India?
Heat extremes and groundwater scarcity are but two of the impacts of climate change affecting India. Technology, political will, and international cooperation are needed to reverse these impacts.
World Bank
Posted on 16 Dec, 2014 02:13 PM

The report title 'Turn down the heat: Climate extremes, regional impacts and the case for resilience' published by the World Bank, highlights the risks posed by climate
Droughts and climate change (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Hydropower projects aggravated the Uttarakhand disaster
News this fortnight
Aarti Kelkar - Khambete
Posted on 16 Dec, 2014 12:08 PM

Government admits that hydropower projects aggravated the Uttarakhand disaster
House washed away in Uttarakhand floods
To link or not to link: A debate
An open debate on interlinking of rivers moderated by Ramaswamy Iyer with Himanshu Thakkar and Brij Gopal as panelists was held as a part of the India Rivers Week at New Delhi.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 15 Dec, 2014 02:48 PM

The essence of a river is its ebb and flow but won't taming of the fresh free-flowing rivers by building massive dams pose a threat to our rivers and the communities that live by them? 
Simen - a 'surplus' river in Brahmaputra basin
Battling water scarcity with borewell recharge
“Best practices in water management are too scattered, and results are not clearly visible. A model village would be ideal to spread awareness”, says Devaraja Reddy, a hydrogeologist in Chitradurga.
Divya N
Posted on 03 Dec, 2014 09:27 PM

Chitradurga district in Karnataka receives the lowest rainfall in the state. According to the Drought Monitoring Board, most borewells are dry and where there is water, its quality is poor. According to Chitradurga-based Devaraja Reddy who is a hydrogeologist,150-200 borewells were drilled in 2013, with an unfortunate success rate of 2%.
Basavaraj on his field in Chitradurga
ICIMOD wins UNFCCC's award for flood warning system
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 03 Dec, 2014 09:55 AM

ICIMOD wins accolade for its flood warning system
Unsettling flood waters of Muzaffarpur, Bihar
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