-The Indian Express Insufficient rain in many districts has put an extra burden on underground water of Punjab, which is growing 29-30 lakh hectares of paddy rice this year Jalandhar: Despite forecast of a good monsoon, around 50 per cent districts of Punjab, which account for the highest contribution of rice crop, around 30-35 per cent (one-third of the country) to the central pool, and neighbouring Haryana are still dry in the...

-Down to Earth Severe dry spells in Indian forests have hit the livelihood of more than 100 million people. But India simply does not acknowledge this drought For more than five months, residents of Jabarra village have been foraging the forests for minor forest produce (MFP). The forest in Chhattisgarh’s Dhamtari district is abundant with more than 200 types of forest produce and the district is known as Asia’s biggest trading...

-The Times of India Pune: Torrential rain over some areas in the last few days has helped soothe the parched state, but experts advise that this will not end the spate of droughts. Those in the know point out that lack of rainfall does not necessarily lead to a crippling shortage of water, but it results from a lack of policies, missing drought-proofing infrastructure and lackadaisical institutional mechanisms. "It will be a normal...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: Key agricultural areas in northern and central India have received heavy showers this time, preparing the ground for more crop planting and a good kharif harvest after two years of drought. Crop planting has gathered pace in the region after the monsoon rapidly advanced to northern India and covered the entire country last week. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) expects good rainfall to continue this season although...

-The Times of India Bhopal: Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh that faced three years of successive drought and farmer suicides, is now waterlogged following three days of rainfall. All districts of the backward region now face another extremity of Weather - floods. All the water bodies which were empty till Wednesday, are overflowing. Thousands of people are marooned at different locations in the three districts of Tikamgarh, Damoh and Sagar because of...