Situation alarming: More than one-third population hit by drought   The country is facing severe drought for the second consecutive year. Conservative estimates from official sources show that over a quarter of rural habitations are facing drinking water scarcity. Although both India Meteorological Department and Skymet have predicted a more than normal rainfall during June-September, 2016, the water storage available in 91 major reservoirs of the country has declined from 22 percent...

-Hindustan Times With progressively increasing severity of rising temperatures and rain deficits over two consecutive years – 2014 and 2015, the Great Indian Drought was always coming. The India Meteorological Department, ministry of home affairs, the ministry of water resources, the Ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare office, and the National Disaster Management Authority knew it. The question is, what did we do with this knowledge? Six hundred million of India’s 1.2 billion...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: A day after Rajasthan's Phalodi recorded the country's highest temperature ever of 51°C, the India Meteorological Department said the frequency of severe heat waves had increased sharply in the past 15 years. Most heat-affected states have no plan in place to prevent mortality and morbidity associated with extreme heat. IMD officials said the average frequency of severe heat waves had doubled from 50 days a year...

-The New Indian Express NEW DELHI: There seems to be no respite from searing heat for a month and half more with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) saying that the drought condition prevailing in the country now will remain maximum for 30 to 45 days. IMD director B P Yadav said farmers faced two deficient rainfall years consecutively and the immediate solution is good monsoon and the weather office has predicted good...

-Livemint.com Work-related seasonal migration is higher when rainfall is low and the construction sector, the largest employer of such labour, is witnessing a slowdown Mumbai: The announcement of plentiful rains this year is likely to spell relief for those forced to migrate because of failing monsoons. A slowdown in the construction industry which employs most migrant labourers would likely have strained their ability to deal with another deficient year after rains...