Rainfall and other forms of Precipitation

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September 13, 2022 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)
March 29, 2022 The intensity and duration of heat waves is predicted to increase in India and human induced anthropogenic changes are to blame.
A man sits under the scorching heat of the sun in front of Amer fort in Jaipur (Picture courtesy: Prabhu B Doss, Flickr Commons: CC-By-NC-ND-2.0)
February 10, 2022 47% of India’s population is vulnerable to floods, says IMD's Climate Hazards Atlas
(Image: J Surya, CC-SA-4.0 International)
July 4, 2021 A study finds that while forests existed in peninsular India, they were replaced by savanna grasslands over time. And the weakening monsoon was the culprit!
Savanna grasslands at Nannaj Bustard Sanctuary, Solapur, Maharashtra (Image Source: Raju Kasambe via Wikimedia Commons)
June 30, 2021 Climate analysis predicts mismatch in rainfall and temperature patterns with crop phenology: Soybean, Cotton, Wheat and Gram crops at risk, finds Institute for Sustainable Communities study across three major regions of Maharashtra.
Maharashtra faces an increasing risk from climate change which is likely to impact the production of four major crops - Soybean, Cotton, Wheat and Gram.  (Image: BAIF Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
December 13, 2019 A study highlights the need to scale down the export of rice, maize, buffalo meat and other items to conserve groundwater in India.
A farmer uses a hosepipe to irrigate crops at her farm in Nilgiris mountains, Tamil Nadu (Image: Hamish John Appleby for IWMI, Flickr Commons, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Amphan’s impact on farming and livelihood in Sunderbans
Millions of people's homes were swept away and farmlands destroyed during cyclone Amphan in Sunderbans. Posted on 11 Aug, 2020 05:46 PM

The Amphan cyclone has disfigured the lives of people living in the Sundarbans. Houses have been torn apart, farms have been filled with brackish water making the land unsuitable for farming and betel leaves have been destroyed. People in the Sundarbans are in a life-threatening situation with makeshift shacks to live in and no means to earn a living.

Betel (popularly used in paan) plantation is a major occupation in the Sundarbans. Pulak Bhakta is assessing the damage done to his plantation right after Amphan. The plantation is spread over two and a half bigha of land. According to Pulak, the total loss he has suffered is around INR 3 lakhs. Pulak already bears the burden of a loan which he had taken to set up his plantation. His future seems uncertain and bleak now. (Image: WaterAid/ Subhrajit Sen)
"Everything’s devastated, and no one is listening to us!"
Surrounded by flood waters, and taking shelter at rooftops with a limited supply of food and drinking water, people of Bihar wait for the floods to end. Posted on 08 Aug, 2020 06:52 PM

"All of a sudden, water entered the house at night. Goods and cattle were submerged. There is no place to eat or drink. We have been in trouble for three days, but no one has come to help us.” The elderly Gauri Singh complains, with mixed feelings of anger, pain and helplessness. 

Floodwater enters Satjoda village of Chapra (Source: Umesh Kumar Ray)
Affected by floods, locals resort to chowkis for safety
"People living inside the Kosi embankment get little or no government help that is why we have been doing this jugaad for years during the flood season". Posted on 29 Jul, 2020 05:35 PM

Flood waters inundated the house of Ramchandra Yadav, a resident of Khoknaha village of Supaul, for three days. During these days he cooked food by setting up a brigade on the outpost and spent nights at the same post.

Children taking water from a submerged handpump (Image source: Prabhat Khabar)
Bihar and northeast India reel under floods, Assam worst hit
News this week Posted on 23 Jul, 2020 09:26 AM

Flood batters three northeast states, Assam worst affected

People take a boat to cross the flood-ravaged Brahmaputra (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Nearly three lakh people across eight districts affected by floods in Bihar
Floods in Bihar create havoc with 2.88 lakh people being affected. 9,845 people have been evacuated from the region and sent to relief camps. Posted on 22 Jul, 2020 03:48 PM

The annual floods that wreak havoc in Bihar have knocked the state this year as well. So far, the flood waters have entered 150 panchayats of 30 blocks across eight districts, namely Sitamarhi, Shivhar, Supaul, Kishanganj, Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, Gopalganj and East Champaran  .

An official of Bihar's Disaster Management Department said,

Life submerged within the embankment area (Source: India Water Portal Hindi)
Floods in Bihar: State submerged in flood waters
Locals take refuge on the embankments as flood waters enter the new areas in the state and government is yet to provide help. Posted on 22 Jul, 2020 01:20 PM

The rains have stopped in Bihar, in the last few days, but despite this, the water level of the rivers continues to rise. According to information received by the Disaster Management Department, the water level of Budhi Gandak is rising in Khagaria, Samastipur and Muzaffarpur's Sikanderpur gauge station.

Village under threat from erosion in Kishanganj (Source: India Water Portal Hindi)
Controlling epidemics, in the midst of a pandemic!
While the monsoon threatens to trigger vector borne diseases in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, what should we know about vector borne diseases? Posted on 16 Jul, 2020 08:40 AM

While the monsoons are eagerly awaited in the country, India's health system remains stretched while struggling with the Covid-19 pandemic. This is a time when vector borne diseases could become rampant, and neglect of preventive measures could lead to a spike in these diseases, warn experts!

Mosquitoes, deadly killers in disguise! (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Kamla, Kosi and Bagmati rivers in rage, disrupt life
Incessant rains in Terai region of Bihar and Nepal causes floods in North Bihar as many rivers rise above the danger mark. Posted on 15 Jul, 2020 07:58 PM

Due to intermittent rains in the Terai region of Bihar and Nepal, the water level of Mahananda, Kosi, Kamla and Bagmati rivers of North Bihar is continuously increasing and flood conditions have started to build in the region.

Locals provide aid to people hit by floods in Bihar
Floods in Bihar: Government prepares to shift people to safer places
As flood situation hits the state, the government is working towards taking people to safer places and preparing itself for the rescue efforts. Posted on 15 Jul, 2020 07:51 PM

Due to incessant rains, many rivers in Bihar are in spate and there is a situation of floods in the state. Meanwhile, the Meteorological Department has forecasted heavy rains for the next two-three days, which may worsen the situation.

Heavy rains predicted

Children drinking milk at a flood relief centre in Bihar (Source: Bhartiya Jan Utthan Parishad)
Drone to help monitor embankments and save people trapped in floods
This year, along with working at the grass root level to deal with floods, the Bihar government is also focussing on the full use of state-of-the-art technologies. Posted on 12 Jul, 2020 05:50 PM

#HelloWRD: A social media campaign

Completed flood protection in Naruar, Bihar (Image Source: Water Resources Department, Government of Bihar, Twitter handle)
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