Standing the test of drought
After the 1999 monsoon failed in several areas of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, there is a serious drought. Summer is a good four months away, and …
'Lt. Col. John Henry Patterson’s accuracy of description is very much in question'
Bruce D. Patterson is the MacArthur Curator of Mammals at the Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH) in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He is also an …
Agriculture is egocentric
Norman Uphoff, professor emeritus of government and international agriculture at Cornell University, US, likes to say that the system of rice …
Desertification control lacks efficiency
PERHAPS no environmental problem affects the poor of the world as much as desertification. The UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) says this has …
The great experimenter
For ages, Indian farmers have practised ecofriendly farming by using local resources to improve soil fertility and control pests and diseases. …
Chronicle of a journey foretold
Water trains aren't a strange sight anymore. Not the least in the parched areas of Gujarat. But while many villages await their erratic supply, …
SUBSIDISED KILLING
They may survive the drought. But they cannot survive government policies. When people have to abandon their livestock, they are reduced to misery,…
A midsummer dream
Anyone will tell you that follow-ups are not a story. Journalism is not about following stories of specific villages and how they fare year after …
The water bearer
ANNA HAZARE bids a heavy-hearted farewell to the late Vilasrao Salunkhe, better known as 'pani baba'. Salunkhe's revolutionary concept of '…
Rain check
The column width dedicated to rain in the mainstream print media has hit an all-time high. A few days ago, television news reporters with that …
Large promises
Prime Minister Vajpayee is terribly interested in rural development these days. On his birthday he inaugurated Swajaldhara, a nation-wide water …
Why can't Indians access maps for 43 per cent of their country?
How is it that you can buy a map of India in Paris with details as fine as the location of all tyre puncture shops in Delhi (updated every six …
Global food crisis: causes and implications for India
Is there a global crisis unravelling? World food reserves are at their lowest in 25 years and the prices of most food crops are at a record high. …
Hiware Bazar - A village with 54 millionaires
Hiware Bazar, a village in Maharashtra's drought-prone Ahmednagar district, was sliding into an abyss after degrading its environment. But in …
Water, Africa’s Gold: Climate change, deforestation behind Madagascar’s water scarcity
Madagascar, though blessed with abundant water, has recently undergone a change in its hydrological cycle, due to global warming, leading to …
Climate crisis: Madagascar drought worsens
Women, children have to walk for hours to get to food distribution points; families living on raw red cactus fruits, wild leaves and locusts&…
Can India forecast drought in the long term?
The country has a long experience of managing drought but it is time it evolved its long-term forecasting mechanism
Quarter of India’s land area faces drought-like conditions; IMD predicts weak monsoon in August
Since April, the area under drought has been increasing. Below normal rainfall is expected in August
Kharif season 2023: Drought-like situation in 16% districts, no sowing in 2 million hectares
According to the IMD’s Drought Outlook, between July 6 and 12, severe dryness was observed in 5 per cent of the country and moderate …
Centre, Bihar take stock as state edges towards drought
Last year, no steps were taken by the central government despite drought being declared in Bihar and Jharkhand
Victims of climate change: This year, 135 people may die every day due to drought in Somalia
Consecutive years of failed rains may have caused this longest, most severe drought in the country’s history
Cyclone Freddy travelled from Australia to batter Madagascar, one of the most climate-vulnerable nations
The world’s fourth-largest island is suffering a drought since 2018; cyclones and also the first famine caused by climate change
Rice, integral to Madagascar, may be hastening the decline of its unique biodiversity; here is how
Madagascar is a biodiversity hotspot; most of the plants, animals, insects and fungi found there are not found anywhere else
El Niño effect: Even in drought-tolerant forests, seedlings more likely to die
Scientists study effects of drought, find mortality higher in evergreen forests than deciduous ones
Monsoon 2022: Why a drought wasn’t declared in 4 states with drought-like conditions
A report shows drought-like situation in over 700 blocks of 91 districts of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar & West Bengal