-The New Indian Express TIRUCHY: Cliched it may sound, but it indeed was a Black Friday for farm workers as the Supreme Court order reducing Tamil Nadu’s share of Cauvery will have a cascading effect and effectively shrink cultivation area. Already rendered jobless by the drought, reduction in the cultivation area will only add to their woes. Marginal farmers and farm workers in tail-end delta regions, are worried that the SC verdict...

-The Economic Times PUNE: The budget allocated Rs 2600 crore for ground water irrigation scheme in 96 deprived irrigation districts. However, water sector activists claim this scheme will blindly incentivise use of groundwater in unsustainable matter. The Finance Minister announced in his speech: Ground water irrigation scheme under Prime Minister Krishi Sinchai Yojna- Har Khet ko Pani will be taken up in 96 deprived irrigation districts where less than 30% of the...

-Hindustan Times In 3 years, the Agarwals have prevented the land from being damaged five times Mumbai: Refraining from the usual practice of blaming authorities for destruction of mangroves and wetlands in Mumbai Metropolitan Region, this Navi Mumbai couple felt obligated to make a change. For the last three years, Sunil Agarwal, 55, and his wife Shruti, 50, residents of NRI Complex in Nerul, Navi Mumbai, have been guarding an 80-hectare wetland...

-The Times of India Bhopal: Amidst the looming agrarian crisis and reports of farmers' suicides in Madhya Pradesh, the peasants are once again under duress as the state stares at a possible drought. Rabi sowing area this year is all set to go down, thereby affecting the wheat production. This may also put a spanner in the state's ambition to bag yet another Krishi Karman award. Talking to TOI, minister for agriculture...

-Livemint.com The draft guidelines propose to levy a new water conservation fee based on quantum of groundwater extracted With the aim of completely changing the way groundwater is managed, the central government has proposed guidelines which stipulate that all industries, mining and infrastructure dewatering projects—whether existing or new—that draw or propose to draw groundwater will now need to obtain a no-objection certificate (NOC). The draft guidelines, reviewed by Mint, also propose to levy...