newsroom-category: Gender & Climate

Every summer, one sees the fresh, shining, deep purple jamuns appear in fruit markets across Maharashtra. This fruit, with its sweet-and-sour taste, has global demand. India is one of the highest producers of jamuns, with Maharashtra on top of the list of jamun-producing states in the country.

The 2019 floods in Maharashtra’s Sangli district resulted in widespread loss as unprecedented rainfall caused significant loss of life and livelihood.Persons with disabilities faced heightened challenges during the floods, struggling for survival amidst the rising waters and lack of assistance.The disaster highlighted the urgent need for inclusive disaster management strategies, emphasising the vulnerability of marginalised groups like persons with disabilities in extreme weather events.

Widows grapple with hardships post farmer deaths related to agricultural distress in Marathwada. This story follows the day in the life of one such woman, Phulabai Pawar.More than 80 percent of Marathwada fields are rain-fed. Irrigation is not too widespread. But the unpredictability of the climate over the past few years has been impacting the farmers from this region.A cycle of loans and increasing debt puts pressure on farmers, who resort to suicide as a way out of the troubles, leaving behind families that have to pick up the pieces.

Fishers in Maharashtra’s Konkan coast, especially the women dependent on fishing, face hardships as the fish catch declines due to rising sea levels and marine pollution.