-The Indian Express An enduring solution to India’s water woes lies in buffer stocking during monsoon months and release during lean seasons. Till June end this year, the government was worried about how to cope with back-to-back drought. But by the second half of August, the scene changed dramatically and several states were in the spate of floods. In Bihar, more than five million people have been affected and 6,50,000 displaced from...

-ActionAid/ India Environment Portal Drought 2015-16 has affected more than 330 million people in more than 2.5 lakh villages of 266 districts from 11 states. It has had a devastating impact on people’s lives as it affected Water Availability, agriculture, livelihoods, food production and food security, natural resources and also put a huge burden on exchequer. Drought 2015-16 — Lessons From Desolation: A citizen’s report on impact of drought and learnings...

-The Hindu 8.5 % less rain than normal against prediction of excess. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has erred on its forecast for monsoon rain in August. In June, it said that India would get more rain than it usually did but as of August 31, the country got significantly less — or 8.5 % less rain — than what’s normal for the month, according to the IMD website. While this wouldn’t affect...

-The Indian Express Farmers can install solar panels on their fields that can generate income in addition to regular crop agriculture. Of its several new initiatives, the Narendra Modi government has set out at least two very ambitious targets, which are also quantifiable. One is achieving 100 giga-watts (GW) of solar power generation capacity by the year 2022. The other is doubling farmers’ income — presumably in real terms — also by 2022,...

The state of Jharkhand has been in the news recently but for the wrong reasons. The NREGS workers who worked for constructing dobhas (small farm ponds) across the state during April to June 2016 have been treated unfairly by the officials in the sense that they were not paid their due wages, alleges a group of local activists. Despite complaints being made by the aggrieved workers, no action has been...