An agroforestry scientist’s notes on Kodagu, coffee and climate change
As southwest India finally has a respite from the recent heavy rains, the discussions have now turned to what went wrong. In the district of Kodagu, nine days of non-stop…
Mongabay series: Flood and drought
Extreme rainfall devastates Kodagu yet again
Kodagu, the small hilly district in Karnataka known as the coffee capital of India, is no stranger to heavy showers. Its area of 4,102 sq. km receives as much as…
Over 1,300 people died in July-August this year due to floods and heavy rainfall
Episodes of heavy, intense and unprecedented rainfall in a single day are increasing in India, endangering both human lives and property. So far this year, according to the data analysed…
[Commentary] Is climate change the only reason for flooding in the Western Ghats?
Our earth has taken billions of years for its formation and to bring life forms on it. It is the only living planet that we are aware of. Every natural…
[Interview] Weather forecasting to move from information-based to impact-based forecast
India’s meteorological department has, in recent years, made improvements in its accuracy of weather forecasting. In an interview with Mongabay-India, the director-general of India Meteorological Department, Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, discusses the…
Kaziranga’s artificial highlands: Not the ‘real’ solution
The floodwaters in Assam have receded. Among the most telling images of the devastation it caused on helpless animals, was that of a group of one-horned rhinos huddled on a…
Government suggests spring rejuvenation programme for water security
It is estimated that about nearly 200 million Indians, about 15 percent of the country’s population, depend upon spring water from the Himalayas, Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats, Aravallis and other…
Amaravati capital city project: From utopia to an uncertain future
Amaravati was promised as a dream come true – a utopia. However, the city, which was being developed as the new capital of Andhra Pradesh, now stares at a bleak future…
Kerala floods: Unpacking the reasons for heavy, sustained rainfall
A confluence of factors that powered the extreme rainfall in the southern Indian state of Kerala in 2018, triggering the worst flood in a century in the country, could be…
As floods repeat this year in Kerala, experts point to climate change
In Kerala, it looks like climate-change-induced floods are becoming an annual affair. Following heavy rains over the last one week, the state which once boasted consistent rains during the monsoon…
