Maharashtra

Marathwada, comprising eight districts in Maharashtra, often makes the headlines due to recurring drought. Irregular rains and shifts to cash crops have made the water situation precarious in the region.

Community scientists, with the assistance of professional researchers, have developed a meteorology-based landslide prediction system for India’s Western Ghats mountain range, according to a paper published earlier this year.

Maharastra’s Yavatmal district in the Vidarbha region is home to several tribal communities. Largely rainfed, monocrops like cotton, soybean, wheat, and turmeric, among others, are grown in a majority of the region. However, reduced rainfall, water shortage and soil infertility plague the region, causing crop failures and resulting in severe agrarian distress. 

Groundwater extraction increased from 58 percent in 2004 to 63 percent in 2017: CAG

The most important precondition to make farming profitable for small and marginal tribal farmers residing in undulating terrains

After two weeks of extremely hot and long dry weather, the monsoon winds brought heavy rains to the hilly northern states of India (Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand) and the south-west coastal states (Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, and Kerala). Cloudbursts and landslides have wreaked havoc.

India is the largest user of groundwater in the world. Agriculture, rural and urban domestic water supply and increasingly industries are shaping the dependency on groundwater.

Water security in  Yavatmal district could be at risk if steps are not taken to revive and renovate water harvesting and recharge structures according to a study by Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC).

Maharashtra faces an increasing risk from climate change which is likely to impact the production of four major crops - Soybean, Cotton, Wheat and Gram, grown in the State according to a study by the Institute for Sustainable Communities.

Thousands of Mumbai’s citizens are disconnected from the city’s water supply network. This photo essay reports on the impact of the poor governance of this essential resource on informal urban settlements.