-The Indian Express In steel city Rourkela, a massive drinking water crisis is unfolding in the Rourkela Steel Plant township due to the drying up of the river Koel which provides water to the city. With no let-up in intense heatwave conditions in Odisha and over 59 sunstroke deaths being reported across the state, the government yesterday asked all schools in the state to extend their closure till April 26. Early this...

-The New Indian Express MYSURU: Drought showers miseries. Soaring vegetable prices are one of them. With crops drying up, the supply has slackened, increasing the prices by 25-50 percent in the last couple of weeks. An increased demand for salads has also contributed to the rising prices. Tomato which was sold for less than Rs 4 a kg last month now costs Rs 15-20 as the standing crops in parts of Panadavpura, Srirangapatna...

-Livemint.com/ AP Hundreds of millions of people in at least 13 states are reeling from severe drought, a situation that is expected to worsen in the coming months Shahapur: Shantabai Babulkar’s day begins before dawn with a 5 kilometer trek across barren fields and dusty scrubland to fetch water from a distant well for her family. The two metal pots of muddy water that Babulkar, 58, balances on her head and a...

-The Times of India Rice varieties that could grow during droughts or floods, tolerate saltwater, and carry distinct aromas or medicinal benefits - India has lost 1.10 lakh such traditional rice types. Some fifty years ago, these varieties abounded in the country, which is striving currently to ensure food security for all. Now, however, only 7,000odd local varieties remain and not all are grown. A traditional variety of rice is passed from...

-The Hindu Business Line Such delays take place after an El Nino year, which 2015 was Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala): The India Meteorological Department (IMD) may have forecast an above-normal monsoon this year, but it is highly probable that its onset over Kerala will be delayed by more than 10 days. There is a lot of physical evidence in support of such a delay this year, says PV Joseph, eminent monsoon researcher and former IMD...