New Delhi - After a day's work under the scorching sun at the brick kiln, Darshila Majhi sits by a cooking stove in her hut, preparing a sparse meal that will help her family survive another day. Eastern Bihar, where Majhi lives, is among 10 Indian states hit by the worst drought in over three decades owing to a weak monsoon season - rainfall nationwide was 23 per cent below normal levels.
It is a prime example of the bizarre rains in India this year: while 26 of the state's 40 districts were affected by the drought, 10 were deluged by floods, aggravating villagers' miseries.
Rains in India's wettest north-eastern region were on the decline while drought-prone western states like Gujarat saw floods. Freak rains at the end of the season triggered floods that ravaged large areas in southern Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
With the failed rice crop and no source of employment, farmhands, like Majhi, are now forced to work as daily wage workers in Ratubigha, a village in central Jehanabad's district.
Farmers have taken to selling milk from their cattle for survival. Majhi, her husband and teenaged son can earn up to 85 rupees (1.80 dollars) a day for making 300 bricks.
"We cannot afford vegetables. When we get work a few times in a month, we buy rice. Most days, we eat rotis (unleavened bread) with salt," she says.
In the desolate state, large swathes of agricultural land lie fallow.
"The land is useless now. We sell milk, feeding our cattle with dried crop," says a farmer, Sampuran Yadav. Elsewhere in the state, starvation deaths are reported, but not officially confirmed.
And the problem stretches into other Indian states. Desperation forces locals and their families to migrate to seek work. Scores of children face malnutrition and health risks and are being trafficked out of villages for low-paying jobs.
Officials say changes in climate conditions have started affecting monsoon patterns, bringing hardship to a country dependent on rains for agriculture, power and even potable water. Indian agriculture relies heavily on the monsoons between June to September, which supply up to 80 per cent of the annual rainfall.
According to the UN State of World Population 2009 report, climate change-induced drought will immediately threaten the livelihood of farmers with marginal or small holdings in India. These constitute 42 per cent of the country's billion-plus population.
"Frequency and intensity of extreme weather events like drought, floods - floods in drought-frequented areas and drought in flood- affected areas - have increased during the last two decades due to global warming," the government's document on drought management strategies observes.
National data may not capture the trend, but there are marked variations in rainfall on a state-wide basis. Fast depleting groundwater - the country's main water resource - could threaten India's sustaining economic development, says Chandra Bhushan, a climate change expert at Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment.
The intensity of rainfall has increased, which means a region gets the same rainfall over fewer monsoon days. The 2006 Mumbai rains, which killed over 1,000 people, are a case in point.
"A major problem is reduction in number of rainfall days. With high intensity rainfall, the groundwater is not getting recharged and water is going into the rivers. This will have huge impact on our agricultural practices, which depend on sustained rainfall for at least three months," Bhushan said.
Meanwhile, protests over rising food prices have hit streets in New Delhi, as well as the Indian Parliament.
According to the latest government data on food articles, prices of rice and wheat have increased by 12 per cent and 7 per cent respectively over the last year, while that of pulses (lentils, beans and peas) increased by 23 percent.
"My customers are complaining. Prices of vegetables and fruits have shot up 30-40 per cent over the last two months," said a grocer in Delhi. "They say prices are too high, they don't know what to buy."
According to RK Pachauri, chief of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Indian subcontinent will be among the regions hit the hardest by global warming, as it will result in less rainfall leading to food scarcity, exposing millions to hunger.
The Himalayan glaciers which feed major rivers in the region will recede at an alarming rate, resulting in water scarcity which will seriously affect populations in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.
Experts say India needs good water governance with a focus on watershed management - storage, recharge and proper distribution - as well as water harvesting. "The changing monsoons will exacerbate the serious water situation. Better water management is needed to ensure that the crisis doesn't deepen, and lead to more suffering and social disruption," Bhushan said.
