As climate change intensifies, it is imperative for policymakers to address the escalating loss and damage it inflicts on vulnerable communities in developing countries. In India's Maharashtra state, these impacts are forcing rural families into life-altering decisions and migrations to work in sugarcane fields, where exploitative practices by contractors, including …
Using nationally-representative household survey data and confidential geo-coded data on violence, we examine the linkages between conflict, food insecurity, and food price shocks in Afghanistan. Spatial mappings of the raw data reveal large variations in levels of food insecurity and conflict across the country; surprisingly, food insecurity is not higher …
AMRAVATI: The state government is diverting scarce water resources in the drought-prone Vidarbha region to private thermal power plants. However, a state energy department official dismissed figures of water that is deprived to farmers as "exaggerated". The six districts in Vidarbha recorded 8,273 farmers' suicides in the past decade. In …
MUMBAI: The Vidarbha region, which lost many a farmer to agrarian crisis, is now staring at a bigger demon: Drought. Among the six districts of Vidarbha, Buldhana and Amravati have been declared drought-hit. The immediate outcome is that children have to brace the scorching sun and walk for miles to …
SANGRAMPUR (BULDHANA): On May 20, 18-year-old Sarjubai Tota gave birth to a girl without any medical assistance in her thatched, one-room marital home. While Sarjubai weighs a mere 28 kg, her daughter weighs 1 kg (the normal weight for a newborn is around 2.5 kg). Eight days on, Sarjubai hasn't …
US may reduce its global crop estimate by 1.2% next month Droughts withering wheat crops from the US to Russia to Australia will probably spur the biggest reduction in global supply estimates since 2003 and drive prices to the highest in almost a year. Kansas, the top US grower of …
The centre has sanctioned Rs588 crore as a relief measure in the 15 drought-hit districts of the state, announced relief and rehabilitation minister Patangrao Kadam here on Tuesday. The money will be released soon, he added. Following the state’s demand of Rs1,500 crore towards the Calamity Relief Fund (CRF), a …
LUCKNOW: The growing number of farmer suicides and water scarcity in Bundelkhand region is set to figure prominently in the coming session of national executive meeting of the BJP scheduled to be held on May 24 and May 25. Speaking to TOI, former BJP president Rajnath Singh, said, "Things for …
MUMBAI: If the state is faced with a drought-like situation almost all year round, water experts suggest it's time to rise above party politics and conce n trate on core water resource po licies and cropping patterns. "State policies only pay lip service to equitable water distribution . They spell …
The entire Vidarbha region in Maharashtra is facing a drought-like situation following huge water scarcity due to drying of lakes and wells in most of the villages due to intense heat wave conditions. Approximately 4,300 villages are facing the grim situation as village wells and water bodies are drying up …
State had sought . 2,281 crore for relief measures in 15 drought-hit districts. The union government has approved an assistance of Rs 575 crore to Maharashtra towards drought relief work. “The decision was taken on Friday by a high-level committee comprising finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, home minister P Chidambaram, agriculture …
It is only mid-May, but we will soon be getting regular releases from the BMC and state irrigation department on the levels in various reservoirs and dams. Each report showing the levels plummeting will paint a grimmer picture of the ongoing drought so that tanker contracts, tenders for new projects …
Even as the villagers in dried-up Satara stare at a bleak future, their eyes look accusingly at the green measures that have come up in these dry hinterlands—the numerous windmills aimed to provide the state grid with clean energy. The one question that has returned to haunt them is: Are …
If the Census figures are anything to go by, the dry plateau regions of Satara have been witnessing a slow but steady migration. In fact, the persistent drought conditions in the region have been driving people out ever since British times, say activists, adding that the lack of corrective measures …
Sangli/Satara: Open trailers packed with families and cattle have become a common sight along Maharashtra’s highways — a telling sign of the distress the drought in 15 districts of the state has brought with it. Truckloads of villagers are migrating from the hinterland to cities like Mumbai, Pune and Kolhapur …
After last year’s failed rainfall dried up most wells and the depeleting water table drove the hand pumps to a trickle, farmers in the nearly 200 villages in Mann and Khatav talukas in Satara are now struggling to save their cattle. While both farmers and their livestock await government relief …
Daily milk production in the state is seeing a surplus by 28 lakh litre, with drastic rise in contributions from the drought-hit talukas like Jat and Mann leading to a massive production of milk powder. Of the 1.13 crore lakh litres of milk being produced a day, 28 lakh litre …
Maharashtra possibly has among the worst track records when it comes to learning a thing or two from a crisis. In the midst of its fourth drought since 2000, the government has set in motion a slew of time-tested measures with what bureaucrats say is an unprecedented liberal hand. But …
Baramati: In a region where farmers either work in the fields or breed cows, milk production is the indicator for the impact of the drought on the latter section. Many dairy farmers in Baramati’s so-called dry zone have sold their cows in the absence of enough water to feed them …
It is mostly caused by deliberate neglect and designed failure of the way we manage water and land It’s drought time again. Nothing new in this announcement. Each year, first we have crippling droughts between December and June, and then devastating floods in the next few months. It’s a cycle …
Bangalore: Power struggle, politicking and blame game are keeping state BJP leaders busy. And there is no one to pay attention to the problems faced by drought-hit people in the districts. The chief minister, his colleagues and party legislators should have been helping out people of 123 drought-affected taluks. Instead, …
