Gojesh Konsam

When the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly unanimously passed the Women Farmers Empowerment Act on July 2, 2026, it gave legal standing to millions of women like Shakuntla Devi, who farms land in Uttarakhand’s Tehri district that sustains her family but appears nowhere in the records that determine access to credit, crop insurance and government support. The house and fields are registered solely in her husband’s name. Her case is unremarkable precisely because it is so common.

Before the monsoon clouds formed over the Arabian Sea, farmers like Nagaraj N in Karnataka’s Kolar district had already made their calculations, as Mongabay India reported. He sank another borewell to protect his mulberry and paddy fields, as groundwater levels in his village kept falling. With forecasts already hinting at a possible El Niño, he was not waiting to find out if they were right.

In Manipur, as in most conflict-affected areas, political and social issues dominate the spotlight, whereas the gravity of environmental deterioration remains largely unnoticed. The displacement and the weakened governance contribute to the worsening of environmental damage, yet these points are neglected as the conflict narrative is so powerful.