The global cost of disasters is growing: The economic burden of disasters is intensifying. While the direct costs of disasters averaged $70–80 billion a year between 1970 and 2000, between 2001 and 2020 these annual costs grew significantly to $180–200 billion. But the real cost is far higher. Disaster costs …
Green farms and harvest was a forgotten dream for the residents of Bartunda village in Orissa's Balangir district. They had seen the worst drought in three decades last year, not to forget the innumerable famines that parched the soil and the pockets of the farmers. It was the women of …
a record drop in the water level of Mekong river is likely to deprive millions of people in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam of their livelihoods. Environmentalists hold huge dams in China and last year's severe drought responsible for the crisis. Originating in the Tibetan plateau, the 4830-km-long Mekong flows …
Karnataka is in the grip of severe drought for the third year running, and the extended dry spell has left the state parched. That the situation is serious can be gauged from the fact that industries along the banks of Tungabhadra river are shutting shop due to the acute water …
A failed monsoon brings distress to Kerala; its second longest river, the Bharathapuzha, is virtually dry, and Palakkad district faces the worst drought in its history. Palakkad district is facing one of the worst droughts in its history. The Malampuzha dam, the biggest irrigation dam in the State, has failed …
The three-year drought that Karnataka has been facing, brought on primarily by the continuous failure of the southwest monsoon, has had a major impact on both surface water and groundwater systems in the Cauvery basin. Inflows into the Cauvery water reservoirs have reduced drastically. This has affected agriculture all through …
Tamil Nadu reels under a third successive year of drought, and the rural economy is fast drying up as a sixth straight crop failure stares farmers in the face. R. Maniam, who owns 3.5 acres (1.4 hectares) of land, is virtually in tears as he crushes a fistful of paddy …
South Africa's privately-owned game reserve sector is at the receiving end of a drought. Former cattle ranchers and other operators, who made hay while the US $137-million industry was at its prime, are today looking to sell the animals. The drought has forced reserve owners to supplement the natural diet …
The ongoing drought in Australia has widened the trade deficit of the country. Rural exports have been hit as the rising Australian dollar has made imports cheaper. Analysts do not see a change in the situation until there is an improvement in the agricultural sector and growth stimulation in the …
faced with the prospect of a severe drinking water crisis during the coming summer, the Karnataka government is likely to adopt a slew of pre-emptive measures. As a part of the exercise, the authorities may take over private borewells, close down sluice gates of minor irrigation tanks and urge farmers …
• After requesting for more time, Turkmenistan signed the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea on November 8, 2003. The treaty was formally signed by Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan and Russia on November 5, 2003 at Tehran. The United Nations Environment Programme-sponsored convention is the …
sumit Naik, a migratory worker in Bhubaneswar, has decided to be ‘absent’ from his native village of Ektal for much longer this year than is usual. He is forced to stay away from his home. Reason: his presence would worsen the food scarcity his family faces, despite having 1.5 hectares …
The dark room resembled an infrared closet, the solitary red bulb lending it an eerie glow. With each dip of the print sheet in the solution, more and more of the negative image began to take its positive shape. A mouth, a face, a point of view. At the end …
a rainy year means more mosquitoes? Not quite, suggests a study. Researchers have found that because dry weather knocks out key mosquito predators and competitors, last year's drought
The worst drought of the century to have hit Australia has made the country realise what a valuable commodity water is. Much to the distress of the farming community and policymakers, traders are trying to cash in on the water shortage. The price of irrigation rights has shot up by …
The retreating monsoon is leaving a trail of death and destruction across much of India. Floods have submerged three states in misery, while a severe drought has left two others high and dry. The toll: around 10 million people affected in the past month alone. The Union and state governments …
Folk Artistes Gyani Baba (wise saint, literarily), a seven feet-tall puppet with handle moustache, is up for a big task in Rajasthan's Ajmer district. He is teaching the importance of good governance and asking people to fight drought. Immensely popular, Gyani Baba has already travelled to around 100 villages. But …
the intense heatwave that baked much of Europe for weeks has convinced many people about the changing climate. "We have not seen such an extended period of dry weather and sunny days since 1870,' says Michael Knobelsdorf, a meteorologist at the German Weather Service. "These extremes are happening at short …
• An analysis of news clippings* on water published between February 2002 and February 2003 shows a definite pattern. Media emerges as a matchmaker which plans, creates and packages news to catch the middle-class imagination • The two most popular subjects of reportage on water are scarcity of water, and …
A few days ago, most of India reeled under drought. Cities thirsted for water. Karnataka's chief minister S M Krishna - seeing water supply in his software capital reduced to once in three days - announced desperate measures, such as prayer. The entire country seemed to await the first emancipatory …
