/topics/droughts-and-floods
Droughts and Floods
Courting catastrophe: Unplanned urbanisation and flooding
Posted on 21 Mar, 2016 08:40 AMSouth India's rivers are rain-fed unlike those in the North, which are glacier-fed due to the contrasting topography and climate. Unlike the Himalayan system, many of India’s peninsular rivers dry up during the hotter half of the year, leaving lips and fields equally parched.
![Houses constructed on the fringes of the Ambattur eri in Chennai](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/10426082604_c723bb867a_z.jpg?itok=nKNgl0KB)
Small scale fishworkers fishing for jobs elsewhere
Posted on 19 Mar, 2016 01:31 PMChinna, 35, harvests fish and is engaged on a piece rate basis by the local contractor who has rights to fishing in the village tank in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh. At times, Chinna also uses family labour to complete his work.
![Traditional fishers livelihoods are directly threatened by mechanised fishing methods (Source: Vikas Sahayog Kendra, Palamau)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/vsk.jpg?itok=otJIBut5)
World Culture Festival poses threat to the Yamuna
Posted on 07 Mar, 2016 10:11 PMActivists oppose Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's World Culture Festival along the Yamuna flood plains
![Yamuna river in New Delhi (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/2935403870_3529afab93_z.jpg?itok=aLkUfWUd)
Jharkhand's octogenarian water warrior
Posted on 28 Feb, 2016 01:39 PMIt was 1961. Simon Oraon, a Class IV school drop-out began his journey against drought in Bedo, a tribal block of Ranchi, Jharkhand. An idealistic young man, he along with his fellow villagers began constructing earthen dams to capture rainwater for recharging groundwater.
![A water body revived at Bedo, Ranchi](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/bedo-water-body.jpg?itok=AQS1hghD)
Floating gardens for the landless
Posted on 17 Feb, 2016 09:49 PMThe coastal district of Puri in Odisha is infested with water hyacinth. In 1982, 10 million people and 3 million hectares of agricultural land was affected by floods causing the water hyacinth to increase to such an extent that it has affected the lives and livelihood of communities for almost three decades.
![Women working on a floating garden (Source: RCDC)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/img_0441s.jpg?itok=Uz_jRw1T)
Saved by tanks: The story of Puducherry’s Bahour commune
Posted on 16 Feb, 2016 10:13 AMThe East Coast of India is very much unlike its western counterpart both in terms of physiography and climatology.
![The Manapet tank in Bahour has an ayacut of around 110 acres, most of which is now urbanised (Image: Seetha Gopalakrishnan, IWP)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/24937329615_8f42b8b924_z.jpg?itok=7YlOGpGH)
National Water Commission in place of CWC and CGWB
Posted on 16 Feb, 2016 09:28 AMGovernment proposes to set up a National Water Commission
![The Upper Lake, Bhopal (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/18952566665_7bf8a91e62_z.jpg?itok=RB4RpRFi)
Karnataka first state to witness rabi crop loss
Posted on 16 Feb, 2016 09:16 AMKaranataka records failure of winter crops, seeks Rs 1,417 crore Central assistance
![Barren fields owing to poor rains (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/9062876883_ecdbdf43cb_z.jpg?itok=dmdutGeA)
Budget needs to protect food security
Posted on 15 Feb, 2016 11:01 AMWith the budget 2016-17 round the corner what are the asks from the standpoint of food security? This year’s budget is being prepared in the wake of many parts of the country being affected by drought resulting in greater distress, hunger and starvation for a large number of people.
![Children at an anganwadi centre, Mysore waiting for the mid-day meal](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/kids.jpg?itok=h_DKDfH0)
Environmentalists protest proposed projects near Konkan coastline
Posted on 09 Feb, 2016 12:48 PMActivists stand against three proposed projects near Konkan coastline
![A thermal power plant in Ennore, Chennai (Source: India Water Portal Flickr Photos)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/dsc00090_0_1.jpg?itok=fnDNaIX8)