-Economic and Political Weekly   The runaway growth in states of subsidised solar pumps, which provide quality energy at near-zero marginal cost, can pose a bigger threat of groundwater over-exploitation than free power has done so far. The best way to meet this threat is by paying farmers to "grow" solar power as a remunerative cash crop. Doing so can reduce pressure on aquifers, cut the subsidy burden on electricity companies, reduce...

-IANS Guwahati: The gurgling water flowing fast through a traditional canal system that has been revived in water-scarce parts of Assam has brought cheer to farmers who now look forward to a bumper harvest. After about 20 years, 42-year-old Rati Ranjan Mondal expects at least 450 mounds (about 18,000 kg) of rice from his 30 bighas (about 10 acres) of paddy field in this harvesting season, compared to about only 200 mounds...

-The Telegraph A swathe of land stretching from the Himalayan foothills to the Indo-Gangetic plains has experienced a steady and significant decrease in water stored in lakes, reservoirs, rivers and as groundwater over the past decade, government scientists have said. Scientists at the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting here and their collaborators in other institutions have found that the terrestrial water storage (TWS) - a measure of surface and underground...

-Outlook Guwahati: Assam suffers an average loss of Rs 200 crore every year due to devastating floods with nearly 40 per cent of the state's total land declared as flood-prone by the government. According to the Economic Survey, Assam for 2013-14 tabled in the Assembly during the ongoing Budget session, the average annual loss due to flood in Assam is to the tune of Rs 200 crore and in 1998, the loss...

-The Business Standard/ Agencies   1,500 villages under water; Assam, Bihar too affected  Lucknow/ New Delhi: Floods triggered by heavy rains in the Himalayas have inundated nearly 1,500 villages in Uttar Pradesh, killing at least 28 people and leaving thousands homeless, officials said on Sunday. Thousands were marooned in villages across nine districts of Uttar Pradesh, where the release of water from overflowing dams in neighbouring Nepal has added to the impact of the...