Flood and drought News

Flood is an overflow of water, while a drought is a prolonged shortage of water. India witnesses both and sometimes, at the same time. Unusual rainfall patterns are becoming commonplace now and trigger disasters such as floods and droughts which are related to the timing of the rainfall, rather than the quantum of rainfall. From long dry spells to excessive rainfall, recent monsoons in India have been seasons of extremes.  The latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) AR6 predicts that south Asia, including India, will see more extreme weather events in the years to come. The Indian subcontinent could witness more heat extremes and droughts, as well as extreme rainfall events, it says. When weather patterns deviate from the norm, farmers, whose livelihoods are tied to predictable weather patterns, are among the many who bear the brunt. This in turn has ramifications for India’s food and water security. In this series, we will look at the trends of floods and droughts in India and the climate crisis that is exacerbating them.

When books sink underwater in Assam

[Commentary] Why the Wayanad landslide must not fade from memory

Lesson from Wayanad: State needs disaster mitigation rather than a disaster management strategy

The road to road resilience is paved with mindful construction and design say experts

Flood risk study of Himalayan valley highlights unregulated tourism as a cause

High temperatures lead to decline in coconut production, spiked prices

Assessing coastal disaster risks in central Kerala

Bengaluru rings alarm bells for urban water concerns

How the Sikkim flood drowned farming and fishing opportunities in northern West Bengal

[Explainer] What are ecological droughts?

[Commentary] Take a deep breath and rethink infrastructure development in the Himalayas

Low, middle income countries have deficits in infrastructure, but high risk of destruction from disasters

No early warning system and insufficient dam safety turned Sikkim flood deadly

[Commentary] Disaster resilience in the built environment

Using social media images to better respond to disasters

Flooding caused the greatest economic damages in Asia in 2022, says WMO report

Behind Delhi’s floods is a history of encroachment and diminishing wetlands

[Explainer] What are floodplains and how have they been managed in India?

How an equitable model of irrigation is changing this drought-prone Maharashtra region

New approach of Indian monsoon estimation to account for rainfall variations

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