-The Hindu Business Line Climate change and other agrarian distress are forcing the farming community to scrounge for a living outside its comfort zone The work I do — editing the work of journalists reporting on water issues in the Himalayan region — gives me a close-up of how climate change is disrupting agriculture. Almost 80 per cent of water usage in India, and most of its neighbouring countries, is for agriculture....

-The Hindu The Maldharis of Kutch are well adapted to a culture of scarcity. But older coping mechanisms have died away Do you remember how the monsoon began last year, ben?” asked Haji bhai of Hodka village in the heart of the Banni grasslands in the Rann of Kutch. “The thunder, the way the ground swelled from hours of rain and tiny grasses appeared the very next day. Do you remember, we...

-The Hindu Business Line Pune: Will the interlinking of rivers mitigate drought and the effects of floods? Yes, says the Centre. Notwithstanding the debates on the merits and demerits of the plan, the Ministry of Water Resources wants to take forward the interlinking of rivers. “Interlinking of rivers can play a major role in water management in the country,” the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation told the Rajya...

-The Hindu Business Line Distracted by elections, the country’s alarming water crisis has been overlooked As India’s water crisis gets visibly worse with every passing summer, it is clear that the bureaucracy and policymakers are not working to find immediate and long-term solutions. This time, the apathy seems to have worsened due to the ongoing elections. In Maharashtra and Kerala, for instance, the administrations have taken refuge in the ‘model code of...

-The Hindu Business Line It could, if agri policies fail to incentivise farmers more. The demand for food is expected to spike in the coming years India is, today, a country of about 1.35 billion people. United Nations’ population projections of 2017 say that India is likely to surpass China’s population by 2024 and reach 1.5 billion by 2030, making it the most populous nation on the planet. About two-thirds of Indians are...