-The Hindu Business Line With people too busy collecting it, attendance at poll meetings is thin It’s the schedule of water tankers, and not the time and availability of political bigwigs and national leaders, that is determining the timing of election meetings and rallies in Maharashtra’s drought-affected regions. With the drought intensifying and paucity of water rising, over 3,117 water tankers, as against just 391 in March 2018, are plying in 8,000 villages...

-The Times of India (Voices) Recently the ever-eloquent and formidable P Sainath was with us and his story and visual image for the day was the contrast between the thirst and misery of the Marathwada drought, including scarcity of drinking water on the one hand, and on the other hand the luxury of independent swimming pools in each flat on every floor of a multi-storied building being advertised in Mumbai during...

-The Hindu Tackling drought must be the immediate priority for administrators across the country The coming elections to the Lok Sabha, crucial to the future of our democracy, our pluralism, our federalism, are only a few weeks away. But something else, something urgent, something is already upon us. And something that is going to coincide with the elections. A drought. The rains have failed us. Nothing new, one might say. True, except that the...

-Livemint.com Even as debt waivers and farmer-centric doles are announced to tide over farmers’ indebtedness, the level of investment in irrigation remains poor Ahead of Lok Sabha elections, the spotlight has turned on the troubles faced by the farmer. But, even as debt waivers are announced to tide over one farm crisis—that of indebtedness—another crisis—of water scarcity—looms large. Over the past three months, five large states— Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh,...

-The Hindu They will soon become more than just a political liability The BJP’s poor performance in the recent Assembly elections underscores the extent of India’s agrarian distress and the political cost of failing to address it. The root cause of the Indian farmer’s woes is water shortage. Yet, barring policy interventions, this problem will only worsen — to the point that it will become far more serious than a mere political...