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)
Ken-Betwa river link to divert 6,000 hectares of Panna Tiger Reserve
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 01 Sep, 2014 10:06 PM

Ken-Betwa river link to take away 10% of MP's Panna Tiger Reserve
Map showing Ken-Betwa river link (Source: Shannon)
Monsoon delivers a hard blow to farmers
Flood and drought - farmers across the country have seen both as this year’s monsoon has featured late and erratic rains. This report details the situation as it is on the ground.
India Water Portal
Posted on 01 Sep, 2014 09:30 AM

High food Inflation has been pinching Indians for the last few months and with the current monsoon not being very generous to farmers, the situation is only expected to worsen. As of August 29th, rainfall deficiency in the country was 18 per cent, a much improved figure from the 41 per cent deviation recorded at the start of monsoon.
Amount of rainfall (Source: IMD)
The blocked 'River of Gold'
Sunkoshi, meaning 'river of gold', near Kathmandu, Nepal was blocked by a massive landslide, raising fear of deluge in its downstream area. The pictures tell the full story.
Paula Hanasz
Posted on 23 Aug, 2014 10:35 AM

In the early hours of Saturday, August 2, 2014 a large landslide struck part of the Sunkoshi river – a tributary of the Ganga – in Nepal. The landslide killed 156 people and affected the livelihoods of countless others. The Nepalese government responded swiftly to the disaster and was careful to manage the large lake that formed upstream of the debris blocking the river.
Landslide blocks Sun Koshi river, Nepal
Floods wreak havoc in North India
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 19 Aug, 2014 12:43 PM

Heavy rain causes floods in Uttarakahand, Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar
Heavy rains causing flood in North India
Flood in Odisha affects 3.5 million people across 300 villages
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 12 Aug, 2014 10:50 AM

Odisha reels under floods as Mahanadi crosses danger mark
Odisha reels under floods
Bihar under threat as massive landslide occurs in Nepal
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 05 Aug, 2014 12:59 PM

Massive landslides occur in Nepal and Pune's Malin village
A landslide caused by downpour
A bridge on the river Kosi
To reduce the cost of building a bridge on the Kosi, the Bihar govt. set aside the recommendations of its committee. The decision may not have saved money, but the shortcut has destroyed 57 villages.
Chicu Lokgariwar
Posted on 03 Aug, 2014 03:05 PM

It is difficult to make small talk with a woman who has lost her all.
A boy stands outside his home on a spur
Parliament gives nod to Polavaram irrigation project
Policy matters this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 22 Jul, 2014 02:09 PM

Parliament passes the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill
Godavari river delta in AP (Source: Aditya Madhav)
June 2014: The driest June in 113 years!
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 08 Jul, 2014 09:40 AM

India receives only 85.8 mm of rain this June
June 2014: driest since 1901
Poor sanitation brings down enrollment of girls in schools
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 30 Jun, 2014 01:10 PM

Dip in enrollment of female students due to poor sanitation in schools
Girls toilet in a school
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