-Down to Earth Telangana Chief Minister said cloudbursts may be a 'foreign conspiracy' during his visit to flood-hid Bhadrachalam India, especially its Himalayan states Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, are devastated by cloudbursts several times moslty during the monsoon season. Flash floods caused by a cloudburst in Uttarakhand in 2013, killing thousands of people, is one of the worst natural disasters the country recorded since the 2004 tsunami.  Climate change has been making these...

-ThePrint.in The Draft National Policy for Persons with Disabilities lays down specific commitments, but fails to account for three crucial factors. The Draft National Policy for Persons with Disabilities was released by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan) last month, under the aegis of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. It identifies various areas for intervention, such as, early identification and prevention, education, skill development, social security, disaster...

-TheWire.in More than a month after this incident, Assam’s chief minister called the flooding in Silchar a “man-made” disaster. Several media outlets then added an anti-Muslim spin. While reporting on the Assam floods in June, the Indian Express stated that Silchar – southern Assam’s biggest town and the gateway to the three districts on the bank of the Barak river – had submerged in water unlike “ever before in its history.” By...

-Newsclick.in As landslides plague Garhwal Himalayas, geologist YP Sundriyal says it confirms scientists’ fear that geologically weak areas will destabilise during monsoons. Leading geologist Prof YP Sundriyal teaches the subject at the Hemavati Bahuguna Garhwal University. In this interview with NewsClick, Sundriyal, who specialises in the Garhwal region of the Himalayan range, expresses concern about the rising frequency of landslides. He believes the government must set up a special fund to maintain...

-Scroll.in Days after the town was submerged, social media accounts started posting about ‘flood jihad’. Last month’s deluge in Silchar, in Assam’s Cachar district, was followed by a dangerous rumour. This was no natural flood, the rumour claimed – it was deliberately caused. Several social media accounts suggested it was “flood jihad”, in a not-so-veiled reference to the Muslim community. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma himself repeatedly suggested the flood was no...