-Livemint.com A look at the past three budgets shows that the government took note of the crisis only in 2016 On 24 April 2014, about a month before Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) formed a new government at the centre, the India Meteorological Department made an ominous forecast. The four-month-long southwest monsoon which irrigates more than half of India’s farmlands was likely to be deficient. Over the next few months the...

-Business Standard Water harvesting needs attention, not just irrigation The charter of demands recently submitted by chief ministers of drought-hit states to the central leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeks liberal assistance for the states' drought relief efforts. These focus on managing the immediate crisis. While that is a valid concern, too few states sought aid for medium and long-term drought mitigation and adaptation measures which are vital to blunt the...

-Livemint.com New Delhi: Despite widespread drought in 11 states across the country, India’s foodgrain production is actually set to grow marginally, the third advance estimates released by the agriculture ministry on Monday showed. Total foodgrain production in 2015-16 is estimated at 252.23 million tonnes, marginally higher than 252.02 million tonnes produced in 2014-15, the data shows. If the estimates hold up, it would imply that the damage to the agrarian economy is less...

-DNA Even as the Modi government promises to increase the green cover, here are the challenges it is facing. Meet Ashish Arora, resort owner in Uttarakhand who lives next to a forest. It is not just the chirping birds, clean air and wild animals that surround him. He also has to grapple with forest fires every year. For the people in Uttarakhand like any other forest-rich state, forest fires are a way...

-Livemint.com World Bank report says combined effects of growing populations, rising incomes and expanding cities will see demand for water rising exponentially, while supply becomes more erratic and uncertain New Delhi: Water scarcity, exacerbated by climate change, could cost some regions up to 6% of their gross domestic product (GDP), spur migration and spark conflict, said a report released by the World Bank on Tuesday. The report, High and dry: Climate change, water...