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		<title>Mongabay India</title>
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		<link>https://india.mongabay.com/list/drought/</link>
		<description>India&#039;s environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2026 10:34:11 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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				<item>
					<title>Cloud seeding’s potential to ease drought is uncertain</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/10/cloud-seedings-potential-to-ease-drought-is-uncertain/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/10/cloud-seedings-potential-to-ease-drought-is-uncertain/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Oct 2026 11:09:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nikhil Sreekandan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rain Clouds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urban planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urban water crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[water crisis]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/10/23092927/Cessna_210_Hagelflieger-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=41823</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Karnataka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cities and Towns, Climate Change, Climate Change Adaptation, Climate Science, Drought, Extreme Weather Events, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Karnataka government launched a cloud-seeding programme in September to address rainfall deficits in drought-affected parts of the state. Since the launch of the programme, worth around ₹28 crore (₹285 million), questions have been raised about the viability of cloud-seeding operations this late in the monsoon. Cloud seeding is a disputed weather modification technique that [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Karnataka government launched a cloud-seeding programme in September to address rainfall deficits in drought-affected parts of the state. Since the launch of the programme, worth around ₹28 crore (₹285 million), questions have been raised about the viability of cloud-seeding operations this late in the monsoon. Cloud seeding is a disputed weather modification technique that introduces particles into suitable existing clouds to influence how precipitation forms. It cannot create new clouds, and its effect on rainfall is difficult to measure. Weather experts, including senior IMD officials, have cautioned that “conditions are not favourable” for cloud seeding in Karnataka. Highest rainfall deficit on record “For the people of Karnataka, drought is a very common feature,” says G.S. Srinivasa Reddy, former director of the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC), who has 35 years of experience in real-time weather monitoring. Since the turn of the 21st century, Reddy says, 17 of the 26 years have been drought years in Karnataka. But 2026 has been particularly severe, as the state recorded just 551 millimetres of rainfall between June 1 and September 30, a record 35% rainfall deficit. According to the KSNDMC, 30 districts and 209 taluks in the state recorded rainfall ranging from “deficit” to “large deficit” in the June to September period. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast notes that 2026 will be an El Niño year, and, according to Reddy, almost 60% of Karnataka’s drought years have coincided with El Niño. A bird&#8217;s eye view of agricultural fields in Karnataka.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/10/cloud-seedings-potential-to-ease-drought-is-uncertain/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>As the Ganga treaty nears expiry, renewed concerns over water sharing arise</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/10/as-the-ganga-treaty-nears-expiry-bihar-renews-concerns-over-water-sharing/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/10/as-the-ganga-treaty-nears-expiry-bihar-renews-concerns-over-water-sharing/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Oct 2026 14:35:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Umesh Kumar Ray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ganga]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urban water crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Water conflict]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[water consumption]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/10/16132023/River-Ganga3-scaled-e1792137434468-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=41680</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Bihar]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cities and Towns, Drought, Environment, Environmental Politics, Rivers, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As the Ganga water-sharing treaty between India and Bangladesh ends this year, Bihar seeks to resolve its long-standing demands before the treaty is renewed. The treaty, signed in December 1996, governs the sharing of the Ganga river&#8217;s water between upstream India and downstream Bangladesh, particularly during the lean season when river flows are low. Under [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As the Ganga water-sharing treaty between India and Bangladesh ends this year, Bihar seeks to resolve its long-standing demands before the treaty is renewed. The treaty, signed in December 1996, governs the sharing of the Ganga river&#8217;s water between upstream India and downstream Bangladesh, particularly during the lean season when river flows are low. Under the treaty, during the lean period from January to June, if water at the Farakka barrage is less than 70,000 cubic feet per second (cusecs), India and Bangladesh each get half. If the water at the barrage is between 70,000 and 75,000 cusecs, Bangladesh will be assured 35,000 cusecs, and the rest will go to India. If the water is 75,000 cusecs or more, India will get an assured 40,000 cusecs, and Bangladesh will get the rest. The agreement further says Bangladesh will get a guaranteed flow of 35,000 cusecs on the first and last ten days of April and 27,633 cusecs between April 11 and 20. If the Ganga&#8217;s flow falls below 50,000 cusecs in any ten-day period, the two governments will enter immediate consultations to make emergency adjustments. For decades, Bihar’s political leaders have argued that the Ganga water-sharing treaty with Bangladesh does not adequately account for the state&#8217;s water needs. Sanjay Jha, a member of parliament from Bihar&#8217;s ruling party Janata Dal United, said on August 6 during the Zero Hour in Rajya Sabha that renewing the treaty without adequately incorporating Bihar&#8217;s long-term water security, development needs, and water resource requirements would&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/10/as-the-ganga-treaty-nears-expiry-bihar-renews-concerns-over-water-sharing/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>A changing climate is reshaping India’s infectious disease risks</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-changing-climate-is-reshaping-indias-infectious-disease-risks/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-changing-climate-is-reshaping-indias-infectious-disease-risks/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Oct 2026 11:49:28 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rupsy Khurana]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[disease]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[environment and health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[human health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pathogens]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[public health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[zoonoses]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Zoonotic disease]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/10/08104600/AP26222296060420-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=41482</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cities and Towns, Climate Change, Climate Change Adaptation, Climate Science, Drought, Environment, Extreme Weather Events, Floods, Global Warming, Health impacts, Human Rights, and Impacts of Climate Change]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When extreme weather events occur, the damage is usually measured in collapsed buildings, damaged roads and flooded homes. But the aftermath also brings a less visible threat. Heatwaves, droughts, erratic rainfall and flash floods, in combination or alone, also reshape the ecology of diseases. They can affect how long pathogens survive, change the distribution of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When extreme weather events occur, the damage is usually measured in collapsed buildings, damaged roads and flooded homes. But the aftermath also brings a less visible threat. Heatwaves, droughts, erratic rainfall and flash floods, in combination or alone, also reshape the ecology of diseases. They can affect how long pathogens survive, change the distribution of disease-carrying insects and bring people, animals and pathogens into closer contact, increasing the risk of outbreaks in new places at unexpected times. The latest assessment report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned that heatwaves and extreme rainfall events are projected to increase in the coming years. A 2025 study by IPE Global, an international development consultancy, and Esri India, a GIS mapping company, warns that extreme weather could become more severe by 2030, with heatwaves projected to double in major cities and extreme rainfall events expected to rise by 43% across the country. Health experts state that we need to factor in and prevent climate-related outbreaks rather than simply responding to them. Health risks during monsoons and droughts The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) reports that the past decade has witnessed some of the worst floods on record. India, too, has experienced devastating floods, including those in Mumbai in 2025 and Kerala in 2018. “Heavy rainfall and flooding create ideal conditions for the emergence and spread of infections,” shares Surya Prasad, a consultant physician at Manipal Hospital, Bengaluru. “Floodwater overwhelms sewage systems and mixes human and animal waste into water sources, while warmer&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-changing-climate-is-reshaping-indias-infectious-disease-risks/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>The grass is greener only on paper</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/the-grass-is-greener-only-on-paper/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/the-grass-is-greener-only-on-paper/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Sep 2026 13:52:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shivam Bhardwaj]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cattle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fodder crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[green fodder]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livelihood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livelihoods]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livestock]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/04094108/ramashankar-dodamafi--768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40691</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Uttar Pradesh]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Animals, Climate Change, Drought, Environment, Extreme Weather Events, Food, Villages, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[It has been over three months since 65-year-old livestock farmer Faujdar Singh Yadav, has been missing. Yadav&#8217;s family, that lives in Doda Mafi village in Chitrakoot district of Bundelkhand, owns 14 cattle. &#8220;During the summer, there was not enough fodder at home, so he used to take the cattle into the forest to graze. In [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[It has been over three months since 65-year-old livestock farmer Faujdar Singh Yadav, has been missing. Yadav&#8217;s family, that lives in Doda Mafi village in Chitrakoot district of Bundelkhand, owns 14 cattle. &#8220;During the summer, there was not enough fodder at home, so he used to take the cattle into the forest to graze. In the third week of April, he went out to graze the cattle. In search of fodder, the cattle went deeper into the forest and disappeared from his sight. While searching for the cattle, he probably got lost too,&#8221; narrates Yadav&#8217;s son Rama Shankar. &#8220;The cattle returned home by late evening, but my father hasn&#8217;t returned to this day. An FIR was registered, but there is still no information about my father.&#8221; Yadav’s story reflects a wider crisis in Bundelkhand, where recurring drought and fodder shortages are forcing livestock farmers to venture farther in search of food, sometimes putting both people and cattle at risk. Bundelkhand is a historically drought-prone region where droughts have become more frequent in recent decades. Recent studies find that the region now faces severe drought every 5-7 years which adversely affects the rural economy that depends on crop production and livestock rearing. The cattle economy bears the earliest and sharpest impact. In the peak summer of the 2016 drought, reports said thousands of cattle died from fodder and water shortages across the region. Many farmers still live with the aftermath of that crisis. In another part of Bundelkhand, near Pachara Panchayat&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/the-grass-is-greener-only-on-paper/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>El Niño brings drought declaration into sharper focus</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/el-nino-brings-drought-declaration-into-sharper-focus/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/el-nino-brings-drought-declaration-into-sharper-focus/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Sep 2026 15:43:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Simrin Sirur]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Climate disaster]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[disaster]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[El Niño]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[farming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural disaster]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/03104144/AP649388761550-scaled-e1788412383893-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40639</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Climate Change, Climate Change Adaptation, Drought, Environment, Extreme Weather Events, Food, Global Warming, Impacts of Climate Change, Villages, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Despite government assurances of adequate preparations, the looming El Niño has cast an uncertain shadow over crop productivity in India. So far, there has been a rainfall deficit of 14% over the country since the beginning of the monsoon season, according to the Crop Weather Watch Group under the Department of Agriculture. The El Niño [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Despite government assurances of adequate preparations, the looming El Niño has cast an uncertain shadow over crop productivity in India. So far, there has been a rainfall deficit of 14% over the country since the beginning of the monsoon season, according to the Crop Weather Watch Group under the Department of Agriculture. The El Niño is expected to gain strength over the second half of the monsoon season (August-September), the India Meteorological Department confirmed. The latest kharif crop sown area report shows a reduction of 13 lakh (1.3 million) hectares in the sown area of paddy, the dominant kharif crop, compared to last year. In anticipation of the El Niño’s impacts, the Indian Council on Agricultural Research (ICAR) put out an advisory instructing district-level farming research centres – Krishi Vigyan Kendras — to act opportunistically, distributing climate resilient seeds, disseminating advisories, and providing resources on fodder conservation. Even so, drought conditions have led to vocal demands for relief from several parts of the country, including Gujarat and Karnataka, putting the spotlight on the gaps between drought preparedness, detection and declaration. According to the India Drought Monitor, a tool developed by researchers from the Water and Climate Lab at IIT Gandhinagar, nearly 40% of the country is facing abnormal, moderate, or severe levels of dryness as of August 24, based on select hydrometeorological indicators alone. How droughts are declared India’s drought declaration process is dictated by the 2016 Manual for Drought Management, drafted by the Department of Agriculture under the Union&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/el-nino-brings-drought-declaration-into-sharper-focus/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>When farm ponds fail to hold water</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/when-farm-ponds-fail-to-hold-water/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/when-farm-ponds-fail-to-hold-water/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Aug 2026 13:50:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shivam Bhardwaj]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[farm]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[farmers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[farming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[irrigation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rainfall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[water conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[water crisis]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/08/26122217/keshav-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40466</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Uttar Pradesh]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Climate Change, Climate Change Adaptation, Drought, Extreme Weather Events, Food, Groundwater, Impacts of Climate Change, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“Very low rain this year; only one rain in this season till now,” said 35-year-old farmer Vipin Kumar Yadav from Manipur village in Mahua block of Uttar Pradesh&#8217;s Banda district, this July, as the agriculture-dependent region waited for rains. Pointing to the farm pond, or khet talab, dug on his land, Yadav said the difference [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“Very low rain this year; only one rain in this season till now,” said 35-year-old farmer Vipin Kumar Yadav from Manipur village in Mahua block of Uttar Pradesh&#8217;s Banda district, this July, as the agriculture-dependent region waited for rains. Pointing to the farm pond, or khet talab, dug on his land, Yadav said the difference from last year was stark. “Look at this, how little water is in my pond this time. Last year around this time, the entire pond was full. I used that water in October-November to irrigate my wheat crop. This year the water is low; the 10-foot-deep pond couldn&#8217;t even fill up to five feet. I am worried: how will the wheat and mustard crops get water this year?” The concern is significant in a region where much of agriculture remains dependent on rainfall. By August 1, rainfall in Banda was 26% below normal for the monsoon season. The pond was dug in Yadav&#8217;s field in May 2024. Last year, he used the stored water to irrigate four acres of wheat twice, more than doubling his wheat yield from about 3.5-4.5 quintals per acre to 9-10 quintals per acre. This year, however, the pond has received much less water. The concern over rainfall comes as forecasts point to a strengthening El Niño. On July 30, the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences said in a press release that El Niño had intensified from weak conditions in June to moderate levels in July and could strengthen further to the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/when-farm-ponds-fail-to-hold-water/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Kerala’s Onam festival marred by a weaker monsoon and subsequent crop loss</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/keralas-onam-festival-marred-by-a-weaker-monsoon-and-subsequent-crop-loss/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/keralas-onam-festival-marred-by-a-weaker-monsoon-and-subsequent-crop-loss/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Aug 2026 17:12:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[K. Rajendran]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Divya Kilikar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rainfall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[traditional farming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Traditional Knowledge]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/08/25152633/Photo-2Onam-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40443</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Kerala]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Drought, Environment, Extreme Weather Events, Food, Impacts of Climate Change, and Plantations]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On August 16 this year, the first day of the ten-day harvest festival of Onam in Kerala, P. Vijayalakshmi made her way to a restaurant in Thiruvananthapuram. For the first time in her life, the 72-year-old has purchased a ready-to-eat “packet Onam sadhya” or Onam feast rather than preparing it herself. “Every Onam, I would [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On August 16 this year, the first day of the ten-day harvest festival of Onam in Kerala, P. Vijayalakshmi made her way to a restaurant in Thiruvananthapuram. For the first time in her life, the 72-year-old has purchased a ready-to-eat “packet Onam sadhya” or Onam feast rather than preparing it herself. “Every Onam, I would make at least twenty dishes for the Onasadhya with vegetables I grew on my own land. But this time, the crops perished in the torrential rain, leaving me to fall behind the popular trend [of packet feasts],” Vijayalakshmi says. Onam celebrates the prosperity that traditionally arrives with the end of the southwest monsoon in Kerala, when the annual paddy is harvested, along with a diversity of tubers and local vegetables. The start of the festival is generally marked by the predictable frenzy of temporary stalls being erected selling a diversity of agricultural products that feature in the Onam feast. Instead, this time, hotels and restaurants were selling packet feasts for ₹250-1000. The traditional Onam feast, featuring several dishes prepared from the diversity of crops generally harvested during this time. Image by Shrutinair86 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). What the rise of a “packet feast” indicates Vinu A. Muthukuzhi points to the remnants of his plantain farm that has been impacted by strong winds and torrential rainfall on August 2. The farmer who lives in Kalliyoor gram panchayat in Thiruvananthapuram district, asks, “How do I celebrate Onam? Half my plantains were destroyed, costing me a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/keralas-onam-festival-marred-by-a-weaker-monsoon-and-subsequent-crop-loss/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>After decades of drought-proofing, farms still depend on rain</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/after-decades-of-drought-proofing-farms-still-depend-on-rain/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/after-decades-of-drought-proofing-farms-still-depend-on-rain/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Aug 2026 13:55:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ashwini Kumar Shukla]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[agricultural drought]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[El Niño]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[irrigation]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/08/06123710/IMG_2166-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39920</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Jharkhand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Climate Change, Climate Change Adaptation, Dams, Drought, Extreme Weather Events, and Monsoons]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“This is all barren land now, but here we used to farm,” says Koushal Kishore Vishvakarma, a resident of Darudih village in Palamu district, Jharkhand, pointing to a long stretch of dry land spreading across the region. “It’s covered in grass because of the fresh monsoon rain, but it’s nothing more than grazing land now,” [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“This is all barren land now, but here we used to farm,” says Koushal Kishore Vishvakarma, a resident of Darudih village in Palamu district, Jharkhand, pointing to a long stretch of dry land spreading across the region. “It’s covered in grass because of the fresh monsoon rain, but it’s nothing more than grazing land now,” adds the 52-year-old farmer. Twenty years ago, this was not the case in his village or the villages around it. “Can you see that river there?” he says, standing at least a kilometre and a half away from a small perennial tributary. “From there, water used to come all the way here.” Lift irrigation, once a lifeline His village is one of many where a lift irrigation system once watered upland fields that gravity alone could not reach. These systems use pumps to draw water from rivers or reservoirs and carry it uphill. “Ten surrounding villages benefited from it. Even in summer, people used to grow crops and vegetables,” he recalls. On his own 10 acres, he says, one year of farming used to produce enough food for two years, with more than 50 quintals left over to sell every year. The system ran for just five years. Then a pipe was damaged, villagers say, and it was never repaired. An abandoned lift irrigation system in Palamu that once irrigated nearby fields, now remains dry. Image by Ashwini Kumar Shukla. “Now we grow crops only in the rainy season, and only in the lowland paddy&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/after-decades-of-drought-proofing-farms-still-depend-on-rain/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Volcanoes, El Niño and colonial policies fuelled two deadly famines in India</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/volcanoes-el-nino-and-colonial-policies-fuelled-two-deadly-famines-in-india/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/volcanoes-el-nino-and-colonial-policies-fuelled-two-deadly-famines-in-india/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Jul 2026 13:56:36 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Karthik Vinod]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[colonisation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[famine]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/30132302/Bellary_ZillaGreat_Famine_of_1876%E2%80%9378-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39721</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Climate Change, Climate Science, Drought, Environment, Extreme Weather Events, Food, Health impacts, Human Rights, Monsoons, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Two volcanic eruptions — one in Japan, and the other in Nicaragua — spewed sulfur aerosols into the atmosphere in the 1830s. This in turn accelerated cooling and a monsoon failure that triggered droughts across British-administered Agra and Madras, according to a new study. But while the volcanic eruptions triggered drought, it was decades of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Two volcanic eruptions — one in Japan, and the other in Nicaragua — spewed sulfur aerosols into the atmosphere in the 1830s. This in turn accelerated cooling and a monsoon failure that triggered droughts across British-administered Agra and Madras, according to a new study. But while the volcanic eruptions triggered drought, it was decades of colonial over-taxation and environmental degradation that further turned the monsoon failure into famines which saw mass deaths. Between 1832 and 1838, India witnessed poor monsoon. This period saw weather patterns shift globally. El Niño, a periodic climatic phenomenon in the southern hemisphere, which struck in 1833, was one of them. It affected monsoon circulation thereby bringing an extended spell of dry weather all over India. Droughts broke out in the British-administered Agra and Madras, affecting cultivation of rice, legumes and other seasonal crops. Colonial policies led to economic mismanagement, feeding a famine that left over 900,000 people dead. The study, that establishes the link between these volcanic eruptions and the resulting famines, was published in the Journal of Historical Geography in December. It finds that the cooling effects of two distant volcanic eruptions — one near Japan in 1831, one in Nicaragua in 1835 — contributed to the severe monsoon failures in India. Because the peak cooling from the 1831 eruption happened to coincide with the El Niño&#8217;s onset, the two effects made the resulting drought worse than either would likely have caused on its own. The new study adds to a “growing body of work&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/volcanoes-el-nino-and-colonial-policies-fuelled-two-deadly-famines-in-india/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/volcanoes-el-nino-and-colonial-policies-fuelled-two-deadly-famines-in-india/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Low rainfall delays paddy farming signalling El Niño-induced drought</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/signs-of-el-nino-induced-drought-as-paddy-farming-delays/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/signs-of-el-nino-induced-drought-as-paddy-farming-delays/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Jul 2026 13:30:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Vishal Kumar Jain]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shailesh Shrivastava]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Paddy]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/27104503/144-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39614</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Jharkhand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Climate Change, Climate Change Adaptation, Drought, Environment, Extreme Weather Events, Food, Human Rights, Monsoons, Villages, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Barun Kumar Yadav from Jharkhand works in Bhilai city in the neighbouring state of Chhattisgarh as a carpenter. At the end of June he went to his village Pathalgada in Chatra district for the sowing season. This is when farmers sow paddy in Jharkhand. Rainfall is extremely crucial for this season. Yadav waited for weeks, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Barun Kumar Yadav from Jharkhand works in Bhilai city in the neighbouring state of Chhattisgarh as a carpenter. At the end of June he went to his village Pathalgada in Chatra district for the sowing season. This is when farmers sow paddy in Jharkhand. Rainfall is extremely crucial for this season. Yadav waited for weeks, but it did not rain sufficiently. Now, the 40-year-old has returned to Bhilai without sowing paddy. Basant Dangi, also from the same village in Jharkhand, managed to set up a paddy nursery using water from a community well. But with insufficient rain, the land has dried and cracks have appeared in his field. “If it doesn’t rain in a day or two, the nursery seedlings will start to wither. The wider the cracks become, the more irrigation will be required. Paddy transplantation can only take place once it rains,” he says. Similarly, in Andreas Topno&#8217;s field in the nearby village of Meral, paddy seedlings are ready to be transplanted from the nursery to the field, but the lack of rainfall has changed his plans too. Shankar Dangi, a farmer from Chautha village, waited for the rains and then decided not to sow paddy this year. “It is better to sow maize than to keep waiting for the rain. However, the maize yield will also be low because there has been a delay of 10 days (for the start of monsoon),” he says. In Jharkhand, where kharif sowing season is linked to the monsoon, sowing was&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/signs-of-el-nino-induced-drought-as-paddy-farming-delays/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Rising sugarcane yields coexist with climate, water risks in semi-arid India</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/rising-sugarcane-yields-coexist-with-climate-water-risks-in-semi-arid-india/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/rising-sugarcane-yields-coexist-with-climate-water-risks-in-semi-arid-india/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Jul 2026 13:24:28 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sneha Mahale]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/23122529/AP20014192009835-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39553</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Drought, and Food]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Sugarcane cultivation across parts of India’s Deccan Plateau is becoming more productive. But, it is also becoming more vulnerable to climate variability, a new long-term study finds. Sugarcane has long shaped India’s rural economy. It powers sugar mills, supports ethanol and bioenergy production, and sustains millions of farmers. But the crop is also at the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Sugarcane cultivation across parts of India’s Deccan Plateau is becoming more productive. But, it is also becoming more vulnerable to climate variability, a new long-term study finds. Sugarcane has long shaped India’s rural economy. It powers sugar mills, supports ethanol and bioenergy production, and sustains millions of farmers. But the crop is also at the centre of mounting concerns over water use, particularly in semi-arid regions facing recurrent droughts and groundwater stress. The study analysed 22 years of sugarcane production trends across five districts in Maharashtra and Karnataka to understand how cultivation, yields and production patterns have changed under varying climatic conditions. “We noticed that sugarcane cultivation in Maharashtra and Karnataka was increasingly being affected by climatic variability, even though it remains one of the most important economic activities across the Deccan Plateau,” says Krishna Kumar from the Department of Applied Science and Humanities at MIT-ADT University, Pune, and one of the study’s researchers. Tracking sugarcane trends across climate zones Sugarcane production trends in India have been studied extensively at national and state levels, but long-term district-level analyses incorporating weather variability remain limited. “The main concern was to pin down how climate variability impacts agricultural production in water-limited sugarcane systems,” adds Kumar. “This kind of insight matters a lot for creating climate resilient agricultural policies and planning better infrastructure.” For the study, researchers analysed sugarcane production trends between 1999 and 2021 in Ahmednagar, Solapur and Nashik in Maharashtra, and Bellary and Dharwad in Karnataka. The five districts span distinct agro-climatic&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/rising-sugarcane-yields-coexist-with-climate-water-risks-in-semi-arid-india/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Watershed management improves livelihoods in drought-prone village</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/effective-watershed-management-improves-livelihoods-in-drought-prone-village/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/effective-watershed-management-improves-livelihoods-in-drought-prone-village/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Jul 2026 15:02:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Vinaya Kurtkoti]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[farming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livelihood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livelihoods]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[water conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[watershed]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/09143228/A-cement-naala-baandh-in-Kiraksal-constructed-around-2017-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39140</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Maharashtra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Community based conservation, Drought, Extreme Weather Events, Groundwater, Villages, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Amol Katkar was a college student in 2002 when Kiraksal experienced a terrible drought. “I remember children roaming from village to village on foot or on their cycles in search of drinking water. Cattle camps were set up and farmers were compelled to leave their homes to stay with their cattle in neighbouring villages,” shared [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Amol Katkar was a college student in 2002 when Kiraksal experienced a terrible drought. “I remember children roaming from village to village on foot or on their cycles in search of drinking water. Cattle camps were set up and farmers were compelled to leave their homes to stay with their cattle in neighbouring villages,” shared Katkar, sarpanch of Kiraksal from 2015 to 2018. Kiraksal is a village located approximately 75 km east of Satara headquarters in Maharashtra’s Maan taluka and covers about 18 sq km of the Deccan Plateau terrain. The semi-arid climate here, with low average annual rainfall (300-500 mm), and weathered basalt, known locally as “khadak”, makes it a challenging landscape for agriculture. History repeated itself in 2012, when Maan taluka was again declared drought-hit by the Maharashtra government. “There was a severe drought, and Maan, Atpadi, and Sangola talukas were among the worst affected,” recalls Avinash Pol, Chief Advisor at the Paani Foundation. As before, Maan taluka was heavily dependent on tankers and farmers were once again forced to leave their homes and settle in cattle camps. It was at this crucial time that Pol visited Kiraksal, conducted a gram sabha, and advised Katkar (who was a gram panchayat member at the time) and a few other villagers on watershed management. Kiraksal village in Satara, Maharashtra, with its semi-arid conditions and low rainfall, has experienced severe droughts. In the last decade or so, local government bodies and citizens have banded together to improve watershed management. Image by&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/effective-watershed-management-improves-livelihoods-in-drought-prone-village/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>El Niño forecast increases likelihood of weak monsoon and water stress</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/el-nino-forecast-increases-likelihood-of-weak-monsoon-and-water-stress/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/el-nino-forecast-increases-likelihood-of-weak-monsoon-and-water-stress/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Jun 2026 11:50:09 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Phalguni Ranjan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/18104433/AP721800276528-e1781759817344-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38707</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Climate Science, Drought, and Extreme Weather Events]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Global meteorological agencies have confirmed El Niño is here. In India, El Niño conditions in the equatorial Pacific Ocean are expected to intensify as the southwest monsoon progresses, confirms the India Meteorological Department’s June bulletin. Experts say the developing El Niño should be treated as a serious climate risk and an early warning, urging timely [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Global meteorological agencies have confirmed El Niño is here. In India, El Niño conditions in the equatorial Pacific Ocean are expected to intensify as the southwest monsoon progresses, confirms the India Meteorological Department’s June bulletin. Experts say the developing El Niño should be treated as a serious climate risk and an early warning, urging timely planning and preparedness rather than alarm. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Copernicus Climate Change Service, and the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and are converging on the increasing likelihood of the El Niño event developing to a moderate to strong event in the next few months. “There was a high likelihood of El Niño developing during June-August 2026, with probabilities around 80%. The probability of El Niño conditions continuing through August to November is near or above 90%,” says Barbara Tapia Cortes, WMO Technical Coordinator (Services). Recent updates about a developing El Niño have triggered a wave of headlines warning of droughts, heatwaves and monsoon disruptions, sparking concerns globally. However, while El Niño has been confirmed and is likely to strengthen further, there is still considerable uncertainty about its intensity and impacts on India. Cortes explains, “The impacts depend on the event’s intensity, duration, timing and interaction with other climate drivers.” For India, where agriculture, water resources, and urban water supplies remain closely tied to monsoon performance, even a moderate El Niño could have significant consequences. “The emerging 2026-27 El Niño should be treated as a serious climate&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/el-nino-forecast-increases-likelihood-of-weak-monsoon-and-water-stress/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>A strong El Niño demands planning, not panic [Commentary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/a-strong-el-nino-demands-planning-not-panic-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/a-strong-el-nino-demands-planning-not-panic-commentary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Jun 2026 17:27:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Madhavan Nair Rajeevan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[El Niño]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rainfall]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/03163434/AP25240537416263-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38495</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Climate Change, Climate Science, Drought, Extreme Weather Events, Monsoons, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Several global climate agencies have recently indicated the possible development of a very severe El Niño by the end of this year, along with concerns regarding its potential global impacts, including on the Indian monsoon. El Niño is a naturally occurring climate phenomenon characterised by sustained warming of sea surface temperatures over the central and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Several global climate agencies have recently indicated the possible development of a very severe El Niño by the end of this year, along with concerns regarding its potential global impacts, including on the Indian monsoon. El Niño is a naturally occurring climate phenomenon characterised by sustained warming of sea surface temperatures over the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean for several consecutive months. It represents the warm phase of the broader El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle, which also includes its opposite phase, La Niña, and a neutral phase. Variations in tropical Pacific sea surface temperatures associated with El Niño alter global atmospheric circulation patterns and influence rainfall, droughts, storms, agriculture, water resources, marine ecosystems, and economies across many regions of the world, including India. The intensity of El Niño is commonly monitored using sea surface temperature anomalies over the Niño 3.4 region of the equatorial central Pacific Ocean. An El Niño event is declared when the three-month running mean sea surface temperature anomaly in the Niño 3.4 region remains at least +0.5°C above normal for five consecutive overlapping three-month seasons. El Niño events are further classified based on the magnitude of these temperature anomalies. When the Niño 3.4 anomaly exceeds +2.0°C, the event is generally categorised as a very strong El Niño (informally a “super” El Niño). Since 1951, 28 El Niño events of varying intensity have occurred, most of them weak. The most recent El Niño developed in 2023. The current outlook Recent observations indicate rapid warming of the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/a-strong-el-nino-demands-planning-not-panic-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>The driest spring in four centuries in the Western Himalayas</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-driest-spring-in-four-centuries-in-the-western-himalayas/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-driest-spring-in-four-centuries-in-the-western-himalayas/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Mar 2026 16:24:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Vandana K.]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Renuka Kulkarni]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[extreme weather]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[flood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[floods]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rain]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rainfall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[weather]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/03/16105001/ss1-e1773642993931-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=37278</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himachal Pradesh]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Drought, Environment, Extreme Weather Events, Forests, Himalayas, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Climate science researcher Pushphendra Pandey recounts how a day in the field looked like in Lahaul in Himachal Pradesh between September and October 2023. The team of nine including other students, professors, a driver and a local guide, would rise at six each morning at their homestay, eat breakfast, and trek for at least an [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Climate science researcher Pushphendra Pandey recounts how a day in the field looked like in Lahaul in Himachal Pradesh between September and October 2023. The team of nine including other students, professors, a driver and a local guide, would rise at six each morning at their homestay, eat breakfast, and trek for at least an hour to reach the old-growth cedar forests of Lahaul, spending the full day, perched on steep slopes and extracting tree cores. Each night, the team sat stapling plastic straws together to create packaging for the cores they planned to collect the next day. &#8220;The cores are delicate but hard to get. All trees do not get cored easily,” said Pandey, who is a research scholar at Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences (BSIP) in Lucknow. Lahaul is a dry region in the Himalayas with forests, making it an ideal location to study water-sensitive trees. The team chose old deodar trees, also known as Himalayan cedar (Cedrus deodara) in undisturbed areas away from villages, in stable terrain free from landslides and avalanches. They were trying to find rainfall history from tree rings, the bands inside a trunk that represent a year’s growth. These widen when rainfall is plenty and narrow when water is scarce. Temperature matters too. But in Lahaul, water availability is the dominant signal the trees respond to. The year 2022 was the driest spring season in the Western Himalayas in nearly four centuries, making it the driest on record across a 396-year climate reconstruction,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-driest-spring-in-four-centuries-in-the-western-himalayas/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Cottony coats and comebacks</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/cottony-coats-and-comebacks/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/cottony-coats-and-comebacks/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Feb 2026 15:37:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Anusha Krishnan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[plants]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/02/24133321/Image-3_Neuracanthus_after-surface-fire-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=37025</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Western Ghats]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Drought, Ecology, Monsoons, Plants, and Western Ghats]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The northern part of the Western Ghats, a UNESCO-recognised biodiversity hotspot known for its remarkable diversity of seasonal herbs, has a dramatic landscape. During the monsoon months between June and September, it experiences intense rainfall. Its open grasslands and rocky plateaus become awash in verdant green and then erupt into colour as seasonal plants leaf [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The northern part of the Western Ghats, a UNESCO-recognised biodiversity hotspot known for its remarkable diversity of seasonal herbs, has a dramatic landscape. During the monsoon months between June and September, it experiences intense rainfall. Its open grasslands and rocky plateaus become awash in verdant green and then erupt into colour as seasonal plants leaf and flower across its terrain. But once the rains withdraw in October, the terrain turns harsh, and until May, all the plants in this area face intense heat, drying winds, and recurring surface fires. Some plants have an unusual strategy to survive these extreme seasonal cycles, finds a recent study. They wrap their dormant buds in dry, cottony coats to help them survive the inhospitable months. Researchers have named this adaptation ‘Xerocoma’, deriving it from the Greek words ‘xero’ (dry) and ‘kóma’ (tuft). These structures occur as dry, cottony balls that form at the rootstock — the area where the shoot and root meet, either just above or just below the soil surface. What is Xerocoma? Just before monsoon sets in, as the plant&#8217;s buds begin to grow, the Xerocoma also elongates with the growing buds to completely envelop them during this critical period. Eventually, as young leaves emerge, the cottony mass of the Xerocoma loosens to allow the expanding leaves to grow. Mandar Datar, who is a professor at the Agharkar Research Institute in Pune, and an author in the paper, emphasises that Xerocoma is a distinct plant organ rather than a fungal association&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/cottony-coats-and-comebacks/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Does the dry bed of the Aral Sea reflect India’s water future? [Commentary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/01/the-dry-bed-of-the-aral-sea-reflects-indias-water-future-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/01/the-dry-bed-of-the-aral-sea-reflects-indias-water-future-commentary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Jan 2026 11:12:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Tisha Srivastav]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ecological droughts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livelihood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sea]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/01/12101625/Moynaq_Aral_Sea_6226842732-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=36425</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Drought, Ecology, Environment, Fish, Lakes, Natural Resources, Rivers, Water, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[My feet crunch an uneven, dusty saltiness, as I stare at a slanting row of ghosts. Of boats. Like some clothes after their first wash, each of these seem to have shrunk in size and shape. One, no more than a heap of rust. The other, with scrap metal joints clanging in a windiness that [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[My feet crunch an uneven, dusty saltiness, as I stare at a slanting row of ghosts. Of boats. Like some clothes after their first wash, each of these seem to have shrunk in size and shape. One, no more than a heap of rust. The other, with scrap metal joints clanging in a windiness that slap-welcomes you into sensing. You are now in the thick of a desert. Another has so many holes, it looks like an indecisive XXL submarine periscope. Zero-buoyancy remains, of where the Aral Sea once used to moisten the floor. This expanse where the boats seem to have amnesia is where the once fourth largest lake in the world, the size of Sri Lanka, went into nature’s ICU, in the second half of the 20th century. Shrink, sputter, disappear. The southern Aral Sea, by Moynaq town, in what is now the autonomous region of Karakalpakstan in Uzbekistan, which is where I am standing, never recovered. For several epochs before ours though, the Syr and Amu Darya rivers as a combo, kept the water level high here. Guided tours to the State museum of history and culture back in Nukus, the capital city of this region, apparently used to start with the high bird count, once found all over the Aral Sea. Archaeological records also confirm the provenance of the people of Karakalpakstan’s Moynaq township: a nomadic East Asian gene base, always somehow being able to fish. Small clans, who were able to live across vast spreads&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/01/the-dry-bed-of-the-aral-sea-reflects-indias-water-future-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>As a riverfront plan advances, ecologists warn of damage to floodplains, biodiversity</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/12/as-a-riverfront-plan-advances-ecologists-warn-of-damage-to-floodplains-biodiversity/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/12/as-a-riverfront-plan-advances-ecologists-warn-of-damage-to-floodplains-biodiversity/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Dec 2025 13:48:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Stephin Thomas]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urban areas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urbanisation]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/12/09105759/Image-6-scaled-e1765312570660-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=35962</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Maharashtra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cities and Towns, Climate Change, Drought, Ecology, Floods, Rivers, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Along the Mula-Mutha River in Pune city, stretches of the riverbank have been fenced off, trees marked for removal and concrete walls rising. These are the visible signs of Pune’s Riverfront Development (RFD) project, currently estimated to cost ₹4,727 crores. However, as construction continues, so do questions about its ecological impact. Ahmedabad’s Sabarmati riverfront, which [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Along the Mula-Mutha River in Pune city, stretches of the riverbank have been fenced off, trees marked for removal and concrete walls rising. These are the visible signs of Pune’s Riverfront Development (RFD) project, currently estimated to cost ₹4,727 crores. However, as construction continues, so do questions about its ecological impact. Ahmedabad’s Sabarmati riverfront, which has inspired Pune’s design, was submerged during monsoon this year. A report from The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) has also warned that Pune will continue to face intense rainfall in the coming years. Environmentalists and citizen groups argue that these warnings remain missing from the project planning, even as ecological disruption is increasingly evident on ground. According to the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), work on multiple stretches of the RFD is underway, with the priority stretch between Sangamwadi and Bund Garden reportedly 80% complete. “This project has been planned with citizens’ welfare in mind,” an official from the PMC project department told Mongabay-India, on condition of anonymity. “It is fully safe for the city, and its design also ensures effective flood control.” Lessons from Ahmedabad Mansee Bal Bhargava, a senior scientist at the University of Oldenburg in Germany, who has regularly voiced her thoughts on Ahmedabad’s Sabarmati project, said, “The Sabarmati riverfront was the first experiment. However, without any modification, it has now become the policy guideline for riverfronts across the country.” She added that when a model like this is repeated, one has to learn from it and improve. “Because of the riverfront,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/12/as-a-riverfront-plan-advances-ecologists-warn-of-damage-to-floodplains-biodiversity/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>Human activity is causing the Ganga to dry at levels never seen before</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/10/human-activity-is-causing-the-ganga-to-dry-at-levels-never-seen-before/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/10/human-activity-is-causing-the-ganga-to-dry-at-levels-never-seen-before/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Oct 2025 16:09:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Simrin Sirur]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ganga]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[river]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Water bodies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Water conflict]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[water conservation]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/10/22165400/AP24320604662078-scaled-e1761133174939-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=35135</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[India's Iconic Landscapes]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Drought, Environment, Rivers, Water, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Data sets capturing records of prehistoric trees, sediments, and other geologic materials have revealed new facts about the changes currently occurring in the Ganga river basin. A team of scientists and researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar, traced the Ganga river’s streamflow levels across a millennium, finding that the Ganga is not only [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Data sets capturing records of prehistoric trees, sediments, and other geologic materials have revealed new facts about the changes currently occurring in the Ganga river basin. A team of scientists and researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar, traced the Ganga river’s streamflow levels across a millennium, finding that the Ganga is not only in the midst of a prolonged period of drought, but that it’s the most severe drought ever recorded for the river. The Ganga river flows through five states in India, and its basin extends into Nepal, Bangladesh, and China, sustaining a population of at least 600 million. The researchers contend that the current unprecedented drought over the river basin is due to a combination of factors, including the impacts of global warming and the immense pressures on the river exerted by the population dwelling along its banks. That the Ganga river’s streamflow has declined in recent times isn’t itself new information – several studies have made findings to the same effect. However, that this is the steepest decline in over 1,300 years puts the urgency of the problem into perspective, said Vimal Mishra, a professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar who co-authored the paper. “Most observational declines have been made within a timeframe of 120 years. But what we’ve shown is that the declines today are unlike declines due to natural climate variability as seen in the past, and that we cannot expect this kind of aberration to resolve on its own over&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/10/human-activity-is-causing-the-ganga-to-dry-at-levels-never-seen-before/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>Is India&#8217;s disaster preparedness inclusive enough?</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/08/is-indias-disaster-preparedness-inclusive-enough/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/08/is-indias-disaster-preparedness-inclusive-enough/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Aug 2025 12:26:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aisiri Amin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Climate Action Plan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Climate disaster]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[disaster]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Disaster management]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Heat wave]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural disaster]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/08/29115116/AP434665936072-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=34379</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Climate Change Adaptation, Drought, Floods, and Impacts of Climate Change]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[India faced extreme weather events on 322 days in 2024, resulting in over 3,400 deaths. In the first 90 days of 2025 alone, the country experienced extreme events such as floods and heat waves on 87 days. This alarming trend indicates the need for efficient disaster risk management to minimise impact on vulnerable populations. A [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[India faced extreme weather events on 322 days in 2024, resulting in over 3,400 deaths. In the first 90 days of 2025 alone, the country experienced extreme events such as floods and heat waves on 87 days. This alarming trend indicates the need for efficient disaster risk management to minimise impact on vulnerable populations. A recent study notes that among vulnerable populations, people with disabilities (PWDs) are often disproportionately affected during disasters, yet their needs are often overlooked in preparedness, response, and recovery phases. It highlights a troubling gap between the existing disaster risk reduction (DRR) framework and its inclusive implementation, noting that the increase in the frequency of disasters in India will affect the 28.6 million PWDs in India. “India doesn’t have a good standing in DRR in terms of PWDs,” says Sumit Vij, one of the authors of the study. “People usually have to rely on their social capital.” He adds that relying on family, friends, and neighbours might be beneficial during a disaster, but having no other option for support increases the challenges. Policy on paper In 2015, India, along with other United Nations members, adopted the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, which aims to significantly reduce disaster risk and losses of lives, livelihoods and health as well as the impact on “the economic, physical, social, cultural and environmental assets.” India’s Disaster Management Act 2005 provides the legal and institutional framework for “effective disaster management.” In 2016, the National Disaster Management Plan was introduced, and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/08/is-indias-disaster-preparedness-inclusive-enough/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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