PARI Contributors 

large__Video_photo_Jahangirs_story_spc.jpg

medium__Video_photo_Jahangirs_story_spc.jpg

small__Video_photo_Jahangirs_story_spc.jpg

thumbnail__Video_photo_Jahangirs_story_spc.jpg

_Video_photo_Jahangirs_story_spc.jpg

<h2><a id="30466" linktype="page">The waters of the Sutlej run black</a></h2><p>The &#39;Kale Pani Da Morcha&#39; saw thousands of people turn out in Ludhiana to protest the state’s apathy, and call attention to the continuing pollution in the Buddha nala which empties into the Sutlej, once a source of potable water for drinking and irrigation</p><h5>November 26, 2024 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/arshdeep-arshi/">Arshdeep Arshi</a></h5>

The waters of the Sutlej run black

<h2><a id="24898" linktype="page">In Bagribari: the river takes it all</a><br/></h2><p>The annual monsoon flooding of the Puthimari river, a tributary of the Brahmaputra, is a constant source of anxiety for those who live on its banks. Flood waters destroy farmland, standing crops and even looms, leaving many residents with no option but wage labour. Expensive embankments don&#39;t help<br/></p><h5>September 20, 2023 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/wahidur-rahman/">Wahidur Rahman</a> and <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/pankaj-das/">Pankaj Das</a></h5>

In Bagribari: the river takes it all

<h2><a id="24665" linktype="page">‘Who drowned Delhi?’</a></h2><p>The capital is getting a facelift as it gears up to host the G20 meet on September 8, 2023. But the sprucing up is selective. Those residents of Delhi who have been displaced by the recent Yamuna floods and on-going development projects on its banks, are now living on public roads, and told to ‘stay out of sight’</p><h5>September 6, 2023 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/shalini-singh/">Shalini Singh</a></h5>

‘Who drowned Delhi?’

<h2><a id="23305" linktype="page">And a river no longer runs through it</a><br/></h2><p>The story of the slow death of the Sai River, the struggles of the villages around it, and of climate change in UP’s Hardoi district. Seen through the lens of the two main persons involved in those struggles<br/></p><h5>June 17, 2023 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/rana-tiwari/">Rana Tiwari</a></h5>

And a river no longer runs through it

<h2><a id="18719" linktype="page">Nanoi floods: the night of June 16</a></h2><p></p><p>In Assam’s Darrang district, the Nanoi, a tributary of the Brahmaputra, burst its banks due to excessive rainfall. The river water swept into homes, submerged freshly planted fields and emptied fish ponds</p><h5>July 1, 2022 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/wahidur-rahman/">Wahidur Rahman</a> and <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/pankaj-das/">Pankaj Das</a></h5><p></p>

Nanoi floods: the night of June 16

<h2><a id="14615" linktype="page">&#39;We climbed on trees to save our lives&#39;</a></h2><p></p><p>Cyclone Yaas brought Mousuni&#39;s lands underwater on May 26, a year after Amphan had hit the Sundarbans. PARI visited the island and found people saving what they could of their damaged homes and livelihoods</p><h5>June 9, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/ritayan-mukherjee/">Ritayan Mukherjee</a></h5><p></p>

'We climbed on trees to save our lives'

<h2><a id="10875" linktype="page">When the water chased people like a mad bull</a></h2><p></p><p>In the Sundarbans in West Bengal, Cyclone Amphan came atop the Covid-19 lockdown. PARI visited the region and found widespread destruction of trees, houses and utilities – and of people’s already-frayed livelihoods</p><h5>June 03, 2020 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/ritayan-mukherjee/">Ritayan Mukherjee</a></h5><p></p>

When the water chased people like a mad bull

<h2><a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/articles/aure-palheri-broken-bridge-drowning-hopes/">Aure Palheri: broken bridge, drowning hopes</a></h2><p>Residents of an isolated hamlet in Maharashtra&#39;s Shahapur taluka risk walking on a slippery wall every day in the monsoon to reach schools, work, clinics and markets, after the only bridge here collapsed in 2005</p><h5>August 23, 2019 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/jyoti-shinoli/">Jyoti Shinoli</a></h5>

Aure Palheri: broken bridge, drowning hopes

<h2><a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/articles/what-if-the-river-gets-angry-again/">&#39;What if the river gets angry again?&#39;</a></h2><p>On August 4, an overflowing Vaitarna river ravaged the homes of Katkari Adivasis in Maharashtra&#39;s Palghar district. The villagers are now anxious about depleting rations, uneven state support and another flood</p><h5>August 16, 2019 |  <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/jyoti-shinoli/">Jyoti Shinoli</a><p></p></h5>

'What if the river gets angry again?'

<h2><a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/articles/bhendavade-battles-kolhapur-flood-fallout/">Bhendavade battles Kolhapur flood fallout</a></h2><p>At least 40 people have been killed across Kolhapur and Sangli districts of Maharashtra, over 400,000 evacuated to transit camps, and livestock and crop losses are huge but yet to be properly estimated</p><h5>August 13, 2019 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/sanket-jain/">Sanket Jain</a></h5>

Bhendavade battles Kolhapur flood fallout

<h2><a id="5511" linktype="page">‘It feels like the flood left mud in our mouths’</a></h2><p></p><p>A downpour in August destroyed the cotton crop in the villages of Adilabad district. Many were first-time Dalit farmers with no insurance and heavy loans, now hoping for compensation and luck with the next crop</p><h5>October 25, 2018 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/harinath-rao-nagulavancha">Harinath Rao Nagulavancha</a></h5><p></p>

‘It feels like the flood left mud in our mouths’

<h2><a id="5456" linktype="page">The bank that went under – almost</a></h2><p>After the floods in Kerala, the clean up underway requires retrieving and rescuing countless thousands of valuable records and deeds, without which many activities could be paralysed for a long time</p><h5>October 8, 2018 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/p-sainath">P. Sainath</a></h5><h2></h2>

The bank that went under – almost

<h2><a id="5386" linktype="page">Kerala’s women farmers rise above the flood</a></h2><p></p><p>Their determination outstrips the devastation. Savaged by the August floods, facing a looming drought, the women of Kudumbashree’s pathbreaking group farms are rebuilding, using solidarity as a strategy</p><h5>September 24, 2018 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/p-sainath">P. Sainath</a></h5><p></p><h2></h2>

Kerala’s women farmers rise above the flood

<h2><a id="5299" linktype="page">‘The water began to rise slowly, slowly’</a></h2><p></p><p>After the recent huge flood in Kerala, children at a relief camp in Alappuzha district were given pens, crayons and diaries to draw and write. Their pictures and words speak of their fears and prayers, of loss and relief</p><h5>August 31, 2018 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/sasikumar-vasudevan">V. Sasikumar</a></h5><p></p>

‘The water began to rise slowly, slowly’

<h2><a id="5139" linktype="page">‘Our houses are vanishing. Nobody cares’</a></h2><p>For decades, villagers from Ghoramara island in the Sundarbans have been migrating to Sagar island because the river and rain keep washing away their houses. They have received little help from the state</p><h5>July 20, 2018 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/urvashi-sarkar">Urvashi Sarkar</a></h5>

‘Our houses are vanishing. Nobody cares’

<h2><b><a id="5135" linktype="page">Polavaram’s dispossessed march with hope</a></b></h2><p>From July 10 to 16, a determined group of Adivasis marched from Cheeravalli village in West Godavari district to Eluru, protesting against the Polavaram project, which will displace and destroy their communities</p><h5>July 19, 2018 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/rahul-maganti">Rahul Maganti</a></h5>

Polavaram’s dispossessed march with hope

<h2><b><a id="4907" linktype="page">Pydipaka families: and then there were ten</a></b></h2><p>Hundreds of villages will vanish over time due to the Polavaram project on the Godavari. In Pydipaka, ten families are refusing to move, demanding from the state at least the legally mandated resettlement package</p><h5>May 28, 2018 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/rahul-maganti">Rahul Maganti</a></h5>

Pydipaka families: and then there were ten

<h2><a id="4866" linktype="page">Floods by neglect, flooded by damage and debt</a></h2><p>The houses and crops of many Adivasi families in Itukulakota were damaged by flood waters from the Polavaram canal last October. They are still recovering, without any help from the government</p><h5>May 16, 2018 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/rahul-maganti">Rahul Maganti</a></h5><h5><p></p></h5>

Floods by neglect, flooded by damage and debt

<h2><a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/articles/many-families-just-vanished">‘Many families just vanished…’</a></h2><p>Adivasi and OBC families thrown off their land for the Bhatsa irrigation project in Maharashtra’s Thane district still wait for justice almost half a century later</p><h5>November 16, 2017 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/jyoti-shinoli">Jyoti Shinoli</a></h5>

‘Many families just vanished…’

<h2><a id="3904" linktype="page">The bamboo-splitters of Dhubri</a></h2><p>Mainuddin Pramanik of Kuntir island on the Brahmaputra in Assam comes to Dhubri town every day to work as a bamboo-splitter. But the trade is in decline and few other options are available to daily wage workers</p><h5>October 23, 2017 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/ratna-bharali-talukdar">Ratna Bharali Talukdar</a></h5>

The bamboo-splitters of Dhubri

<h2><a id="3890" linktype="page">Unquiet on the riverfront</a></h2><p>The fishing communities on the banks of the Krishna in Andhra Pradesh are being forced to leave their homes and livelihoods due to the state’s many riverside projects around Vijayawada and the &#39;new&#39; Amaravati</p><h5>October 18, 2017 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/rahul-maganti">Rahul Maganti</a></h5>

Unquiet on the riverfront

<h2><a id="3813" linktype="page">Milk boats from the chars</a></h2><p>For the people living on Chalakura island on the Brahmaputra in Assam, dairy farming is the only sustainable livelihood – but a withdrawal of state-subsidised cattle feed has increased the uncertainty of their lives</p><h5>October 3, 2017 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/ratna-bharali-talukdar">Ratna Bharali Talukdar</a></h5>

Milk boats from the chars

<h2><a id="2967" linktype="page">Solar on the char</a> </h2><p>The three villages of Birsing char have got solar electricity in recent years, and it has transformed primary healthcare and other daily activities on these sandy shifting islands on the Brahmaputra in Assam</p><h5>June 19, 2017 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/ratna-bharali-talukdar">Ratna Bharali Talukdar</a></h5><h2></h2>

Solar on the char

<h2><a id="2553" linktype="page">When the river ate the school</a></h2><p>The only school in Panikhaiti village on Sontali char in Assam has vanished into the Brahmaputra. Of its 198 students, just 85 continue to attend a makeshift school at headmaster Tariq Ali&#39;s residence</p><h5>February 17, 2017 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/ratna-bharali-talukdar">Ratna Bharali Talukdar</a></h5>

When the river ate the school

<h2><a id="2470" linktype="page">From river to plate: the journey of the Sundarbans tiger prawn</a></h2><p></p><p>For village women in the Sundarbans, collecting tiger prawn seedlings is unrewarding and unsavoury work – though the delicacy fetches high prices for others later along the supply chain</p><h5>January 11, 2017 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/urvashi-sarkar">Urvashi Sarkar</a></h5><p></p>

From river to plate: the journey of the Sundarbans tiger prawn

<h2><a id="2458" linktype="page">Struggles of the sandbar people</a></h2><p>Hasan Ali is one of 2.4 million people who live on impermanent ‘chars’ or sandbars on the Brahmaputra – without basic necessities, frequently shifting home, their lives dictated by the flux of the mighty river</p><h5>January 6, 2017 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/ratna-bharali-talukdar">Ratna Bharali Talukdar</a></h5>

Struggles of the sandbar people

<h2><a id="2334" linktype="page">Water come, water go</a></h2><p></p><p>In north Bihar, people revered the monsoon and rivers, even though they caused floods on occasion. But now, Senu Devi says, the rising waters are a source of trouble</p><h5>Nove,ber 8, 2016 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/sayantoni-palchoudhuri">Sayantoni Palchoudhuri</a></h5><p></p><h2></h2>

Water come, water go

<h2><a id="2259" linktype="page">Living with floods</a></h2><p></p><p>While farmers in many parts of the world are learning to manage with less water, Vinod Yadav and his neighbours in north Bihar are trying to farm in constant flood water</p><h5>November 1, 2016 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/sayantoni-palchoudhuri">Sayantoni Palchoudhuri</a></h5><p></p>

Living with floods

<a id="2230" linktype="page">Jahangir’s story</a><p></p><p>In north Bihar, embankments built by the government along the turbulent Kosi have created conflict, aggravated floods and caused huge losses to the people living in Ghongepur and other villages</p><h5>October 17, 2016 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/sayantoni-palchoudhuri">Sayantoni Palchoudhuri</a></h5><p></p>

Jahangir’s story

<h2><a id="1085" linktype="page">Swimming to migrate in Odisha</a></h2><p>In Odisha’s Jagatsinghpur district, buffaloes swim across the local river every day during the summer, seeking fresh pastures</p><h5>October 2, 2015 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/dilip-mohanty">Dilip Mohanty</a></h5><h2></h2><h2></h2>

Swimming to migrate in Odisha

<h2><a id="1251" linktype="page">Mending boats with music</a></h2><p>In Alappuzha, Kerala, super-skilled labourers merge repair and rhythms at work</p><h5>April 10,2016 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/sasikumar-vasudevan">V. Sasikumar</a></h5>

Mending boats with music

<h2><a id="563" linktype="page">A right to fish, a fight to live</a></h2><p></p><p>“Why confiscate the canoes and hurt us in the stomach?&quot;</p><h5>March 12, 2015 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/urvashi-sarkar">Urvashi Sarkar</a></h5><p></p>

A right to fish, a fight to live

The ebb and flow of rural India’s rivers

भारताच्या गावपाड्यातल्या नद्यांच्या वळणवाटा

ଗ୍ରାମୀଣ ଭାରତର ନଦୀମାନଙ୍କର ଜୁଆର ଓ ଭଟ୍ଟା

<p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:#000000;font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">At present, we can only accept donations in Indian rupees by Indian citizens. All donations made to the CounterMedia Trust are eligible for exemption under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Here is a copy of our exemption certificate.</span></span></p>


India is bigger than New Delhi. And people need to know more about the rest of this vast nation.


<p style="line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;" dir="ltr"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:#000000;font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Younger, media-saturated generations are growing up knowing little about their country, but a lot about the elites of a few metros and towns. For a narrowly-owned, commercially-driven media, the dumbing down of a nation is part of standard operating procedure. The last available data of the Centre for Media Studies (CMS, Delhi) show us that reports from New Delhi account for 66 per cent of news on the front pages of major dailies. The CMS data also found that just about 0.24 per cent of front page news came out of rural India. The TV channels are not much better.</span></span></p><p style="line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;" dir="ltr"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:#000000;font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">PARI exists to change that.</span></span></p><p style="line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;" dir="ltr"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:#000000;font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">We are a non-profit organisation. We publish under creative commons, and do not charge readers a subscription fee or put-up advertisements. Nothing is behind a paywall and we are completely free-to-access by anyone. We guard our independence and receive no direct grants from governments and corporations, nor any funding that could dictate our content. So, we are dependent on volunteer labour, donations from individuals, foundations and institutions that see value in independent and free media.</span></span></p><p style="line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;" dir="ltr"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:#000000;font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">PARI is changing the way Indian journalism reports and documents the rural.India is more than the elite of a few metros and towns. We report on rural lives and livelihoods, languages, communities, migrants and more. We need your help to pull off this most ambitious of Indian journalistic endeavours. The scale of this effort costs money. Donate generously - and spread the word about PARI.</span></span></p><p style="line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;" dir="ltr">&nbsp;</p>

Donate FAQs


Let’s get you acquainted

Welcome to PARI

All our content is, and will forever be free to consume. If you enjoy our work, you can support us by becoming a volunteer or by donating to help fund our work.

<p><i>Want to republish this article? Please write to </i><a href="mailto:zahra@ruralindiaonline.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">zahra@ruralindiaonline.org</a><i> with a cc to </i><a href="mailto:namita@ruralindiaonline.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">namita@ruralindiaonline.org</a></p>

The ebb and flow of rural India’s rivers

Related stories

A rain-scented walk in Sivagangai

Living on ravaged land

Biswas and the bamboos on his bike

Recycling energy, Godda style

Bhadels of Goa

Pookadai: still throbbing with morning life

Koli Kadlas

Malnourishment high among children of migrants: study

Wheels of the rural Indian West

Living Under a Red Cloud in Bellary

Vedla – earrings of the Maher community

Dreaming of water, drowning in debt

Kali: the dancer and his dreams

Farmer's diet worse than a convict's

In Yavatmal, life goes on

Suicides are about the living, not the dead

Death of a carpenter

Hoisa Shigmo!

Women farmers: weaving a life in Anantapur

Defiant in Dhinkia

Spice and all that's nice

Kerala's Green Army

The ‘jugaad’ not-a-mobile

Health as someone else's wealth

Calibrating in a Kudumbashree assembly unit