Bihar Drought

The spectre of a "terrible drought" is looming large on Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said in the assembly on Monday, urging members of both houses of the legislature to discuss means to combat the impending crisis.

With a drought-like condition looming large over Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today held a meeting with officials from different departments to take stock of the situation.

The Supreme Court has come down heavily on states crippled by a devastating drought like Haryana, Bihar and Gujarat, terming their approach as an "ostrich-like attitude".

Renowned Bihari litterateur Phanishwar Nath Renu of 'Maila Aanchal' fame had unsuccessfully contested the Bihar assembly election in 1972, raising the issues of flood, drought and migration about which he also wrote in his famous book 'Teesri Kasam urf Mare Gaye Gulfam'.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today used Narendra Modi's 'Na khauanga na khane doonga' remark to hit out at him over spiraling price of pulses, and also attacked him for not being bothered about drought situation in the country.

Farmers in Bihar are staring into the skies, waiting. If it doesn't rain in the coming week, they say, their rice crops would wilt away. The monsoon has brought Bihar only two-thirds the normal level of rain, bringing the state to the brink of agrarian distress.

Even 22 out of the Bihar's 40 districts have had less than normal rainfall, the state decades old irrigation projects are yet to be completed.

Despite a good monsoon, Bihar farmers have little to cheer about. A rainfall deficit of 37 per cent during this sowing season has led the state government to declare a drought in 33 out of the 38 districts in Bihar. This intervention came today after a Bihar government cabinet meeting.

Farmers in Jharkhand have written a letter to the President of India and the Governor, requesting them to grant permission to commit suicide. ''We have written to the president and the governor that if the situation does not improve soon then we will go ahead and commit suicide,'' said Chandeshwari Singh, farmer.One might dismiss this declaration a...

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday declared entire Bihar as drought-hit and said his government was taking various measure to provide relief to the affected farmers.     "Bihar is facing natural calamity for the fourth year in succession ... While the state faced devastating floods in 2007 and 2008, drought has hit the state ...

While the deficient monsoon has managed to make up its shortfall over the last few weeks across most parts of the country, in the east there continues to be a pall of gloom.Drought has been declared in some parts of Bihar and Jharkhand while the deficit faced by North-Eastern states is as high as 20 percent. 50-year-old farmer Shankar Ram borrowed ...

In Bihar, nature is at its ironic best. The state is split - there is severe drought in one part and now, floods in another.

After a severe drought in 26 districts, now floods have attacked Bihar.

At a time when the country seems to be battling the crisis arising out of a drought situation, there are some areas that have a different problem.

Exactly one year ago, the Kosi floods devastated most of north Bihar, leaving millions of farmers homeless and helpless.

The spectre of a "terrible drought" is looming large on Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said in the assembly on Monday, urging members of both houses of the legislature to discuss means to combat the impending crisis.

With a drought-like condition looming large over Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today held a meeting with officials from different departments to take stock of the situation.

The Supreme Court has come down heavily on states crippled by a devastating drought like Haryana, Bihar and Gujarat, terming their approach as an "ostrich-like attitude".

Renowned Bihari litterateur Phanishwar Nath Renu of 'Maila Aanchal' fame had unsuccessfully contested the Bihar assembly election in 1972, raising the issues of flood, drought and migration about which he also wrote in his famous book 'Teesri Kasam urf Mare Gaye Gulfam'.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today used Narendra Modi's 'Na khauanga na khane doonga' remark to hit out at him over spiraling price of pulses, and also attacked him for not being bothered about drought situation in the country.

Farmers in Bihar are staring into the skies, waiting. If it doesn't rain in the coming week, they say, their rice crops would wilt away. The monsoon has brought Bihar only two-thirds the normal level of rain, bringing the state to the brink of agrarian distress.

Even 22 out of the Bihar's 40 districts have had less than normal rainfall, the state decades old irrigation projects are yet to be completed.

Despite a good monsoon, Bihar farmers have little to cheer about. A rainfall deficit of 37 per cent during this sowing season has led the state government to declare a drought in 33 out of the 38 districts in Bihar. This intervention came today after a Bihar government cabinet meeting.

Farmers in Jharkhand have written a letter to the President of India and the Governor, requesting them to grant permission to commit suicide. ''We have written to the president and the governor that if the situation does not improve soon then we will go ahead and commit suicide,'' said Chandeshwari Singh, farmer.One might dismiss this declaration a...

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday declared entire Bihar as drought-hit and said his government was taking various measure to provide relief to the affected farmers.     "Bihar is facing natural calamity for the fourth year in succession ... While the state faced devastating floods in 2007 and 2008, drought has hit the state ...

While the deficient monsoon has managed to make up its shortfall over the last few weeks across most parts of the country, in the east there continues to be a pall of gloom.Drought has been declared in some parts of Bihar and Jharkhand while the deficit faced by North-Eastern states is as high as 20 percent. 50-year-old farmer Shankar Ram borrowed ...

In Bihar, nature is at its ironic best. The state is split - there is severe drought in one part and now, floods in another.

After a severe drought in 26 districts, now floods have attacked Bihar.

At a time when the country seems to be battling the crisis arising out of a drought situation, there are some areas that have a different problem.

Exactly one year ago, the Kosi floods devastated most of north Bihar, leaving millions of farmers homeless and helpless.