During 2014-2017 India was shaken by severe spells of drought that hit over 500 million people across geographical regions. Unlike in the past, these droughts did not spare the urban areas; metropolitan cities like Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru declared water emergency and several towns resorted to water rationing.

“Drought But Why?” examines how an occupational hazard has turned into a human-made disaster of unmanageable proportion since organised agriculture began some 10,000 years ago. The book also delves into the experiences of several villages in chronic drought-prone areas of the country that remain unaffected by the scourge.

These experiences show that India is a victim of its own policy that revolves around drought relief instead of working towards relief from drought in the long run. These villages offer the new commandments for drought management.