Water in times of drought (Geetanjali Krishna, South Asia Monitor)

Every morning, the newspapers are full of reports of drought in Maharashtra. Facing a rain shortfall of as much as 40 per cent, Marathwada has been the worst-hit. Although the second "water train" has pulled into Latur, farmers in rural areas have had little respite - especially the ones who have been banking on high yields to offset the cost of planting the more expensive and resource-intensive sugar cane. Looking at these increasingly grim reports, I called Madhukar Dhas of Dilasa Sanstha, a non-governmental organisation working on the issue of farmer suicides in Maharashtra for over 20 years, to find out how they, and the farmers they work with, were faring.

http://southasiamonitor.org/detail.php?type=govd&nid=16543