INDEX

aerial video, 239–240

aerosols (brown cloud), 2–3, 305–307

Agarwal, Anil, 282–283, 285, 289

agriculture

Canal Colonies, 122–124, 133

and climate change, 307

clouds, 95

control of water, 7

cyclone of 1942 and WWII, 168–169

and drought, 68–69, 287

drought insurance, 136

and economy, 8, 133–136

and electricity, 257–258, 277, 278

and famine, 73–74, 116

food aid from US, 244

food prices, 68–69

food production, 274, 279–280

foodgrain self-sufficiency, 243–244

frontier colonization, 122–125

government policy in 1950s and 60s, 243–247

and Green Revolution, 245–247, 260, 274, 280, 283–284

groundwater and wells, 256–258, 260, 276–280

and inequalities, 260

intensification in India, 192–193, 274, 307

and irrigation, 28, 122, 133–135, 192, 256, 258–259

land redistribution and zamindari abolition, 191

and meteorology, 36–38

and migration within Asia, 160–161

and money lending, 73–74, 116, 135

and monsoons, 114, 170, 266, 276, 308

Partition and canals, 184, 187

rain and rainfall, 95, 134–136, 260, 279

rice economies in WWII, 170

suicide problem, 287

water as resource, 8

Akbar, Emperor, 29, 42

Akbar Nama, 29

Algué, José, 104–107

Ambedkar, Bhimrao/B.R., 154–155, 282

Arthur Cotton museum, 17, 19

Asia

climate change, 4, 274, 303–304, 316

control of water, 5–8, 12

dam building post-WWII, 177–179

earthquake of 1950, 189

economic conditions post-WWII, 213–214

end of imperial rule, 175–177

groundwater resources, 256

history and history-writing, 5–8, 9–10

identity and freedom, 6

as integrated climatic system, 108–109, 173–174

megacities by the ocean, 270–271 (map)

migration and agriculture, 160–161

nationalism, 147–148, 151–153

rivers, 2, 3, 288, 289–292, 290 (fig.) (see also specific areas’ rivers)

role of monsoons, 155–157, 176

shared water resources, 189

water crisis of 1980s, 269, 272–274, 280–281

water schemes and regional cooperation, 214–215

weather control schemes by US, 250–251

Asiatic Society of Bengal, 60–61

atmospheric pressure, 140–141

Attlee, Clement, 180

Australia, drought science, 102

Awaara (movie), 209

Babur (Zahir-ud-din Muhammad Babar), 27–28, 29

Bailyn, Bernard, 231

Baker, Christopher, 159–160

Balaji, Sakharam, 126–127

Ball, Valentine, 76

Banerji, S. K., 167

Bangladesh, 301, 309–310

Bari Doab canal, 184

Baur Nama, 27

Bay of Bengal

cyclones, 58, 60–61, 92, 308–309

and monsoon science, 310, 317

Bayly, Christopher, 33

Belgaum district (Bombay), 127

Bengal

borders and nature, 181–182

British control and trade, 33, 47–48

cyclones and storms, 58–59, 60–63, 91–92, 168–169, 308

famine and crisis in WWII, 168–170

and Partition, 148–149, 179–180, 181–182

Bennett, M. K., 170

Bennett, W. C., 119–120

Bhakra Dam and Bhakra Nangal project, 197 (fig.), 202 (fig.)

construction and workers, 199–201, 201 (fig.), 202 (fig.)

dedication, 196 (fig.)

description and background, 195, 196–198

displacement of people, 210–211

film, 198–201

Bhatt, Jyoti, 275–276

Bhattacharjee, Kapil Prasad, 205

Bihar

famines, 79–80, 248–250

rain control, 251

Bjerknes, Jacob, 142, 262–264

Bjerknes, Vilhelm, 142, 262

Blanford, Henry Francis

climate and rainfall reports, 96

monsoon and storm science, 60–63, 99–103, 109, 139

science and geology, 59–60, 118

Blanford, William Thomas, 59

Bloch, Marc, 8

Bombay (now Mumbai), 67–68, 126–127, 128, 129

borders

Asia as integrated climatic system, 108–109, 173–174

and climate change, 317–319, 329–330

competition for water resources, 162–163

control of water, 164–165

cooperation for water schemes and climate, 319–323

and dams, 179

and fisheries, 165

and Himalayan rivers, 2, 300

India–China border, 164–165, 177 (map), 225–226, 227–228

and Partition, 180–182

Boreal Summer Intraseasonal Oscillation, 266

Bowles, Chester, 251

Brahmaputra, 34, 35 (map), 111, 226–227

Braudel, Fernand, 8

BRBD (Bambanwala-Ravi-Bedian-Dibalpur) project, 187

“bread riots” (1960s), 243

“The Bridge Builders” (Kipling), 57

bridges for railway, 56–57

Britain, 38, 175–176

British India

in 1900, 18 (map)

army, 123

border with China, 164–165

British self-interest in India, 77–78, 114–116

British expansion, 33–34

caste relations, 154–155

cities expansion, 127–128

civil society and humanitarian aid, 84–85, 86–87

climatology atlas, 108–109

clouds and rain, 95

control of water, 22, 34, 38–45, 46–47, 114, 164–165

customs duties, 48–49

data collection on India, 96–97, 117–118, 134–135

dessicationism, 74–75, 139

drain of wealth by British, 77–78

drought science, 69, 71, 72–73

economy, 11–12, 38–39, 133–134, 160–161

end of imperial rule, 175–176, 180–181

famine (see famines)

fishing industry, 131–133

Ganges, 33, 34–35

Ganges canal, 41–42, 43–45

geology, 59–60

geopolitics of water, 110–111

hydroelectricity, 128–129

impact on water in India and Asia, 11–13

Indian Rebellion of 1857, 45–46

Indianization of officials, 143–144

industrial development, 128–129, 130

irrigation schemes, 19–20, 38, 40, 116, 122–124, 126

land acquisition and displacement of people, 126–127, 210

meteorology of cyclones and monsoon, 36–38, 60–64, 92–93, 98–104, 109, 137, 139–143

migration for agriculture in 1930s, 160–161

and monsoon, 21–22, 36–37, 40, 58–59

municipal water supply, 128

nationalism, 114–115, 148–153

as oceanic realm, 131–132, 159

political reforms, 143, 151

princely states breakup, 206–207

racial relations, 98

railway, 51–58

sources of water, 113–114

state-directed settlement, 122–125

steamboats, 49–51

Swadeshi movement, 148–149

taxation, 48, 116

technological development, 56–57

underground water, 119–121

vessels for trade, 47–48, 49–50

water transportation, 38–39

WWII period, 166–167

Yamuna Canal restoration, 42–43

brown cloud, 2–3, 305–307

Burma, dam workers in India, 203–205

Burma Meteorological Department, 167

Burma (under British rule), 164–165, 168, 175–176

Caird, James, 82

Calcutta (now Kolkata), 49–51, 58–59

Calvino, Italo, 113, 145

Canal Act (1568, India), 42

Canal Colonies, 122–124, 125–126, 133, 184, 186

canals

in India, 41–45, 197–198

and Partition, 184–185, 186, 187–188

See also specific canals

capitalism

and famines, 73–74, 87–88

and fisheries, 328–329

in India, 11–12, 51, 128

carbon and CO2 in ocean, 241–242

caste, 154–155, 287–288

Cautley, Proby, 41–43

Central Water and Power Commission of India, 195, 196

Centre for Science and Environment, 282, 289

Ceylon (later Sri Lanka), fisheries and borders, 165

Chakravarti, J. S., 135–136

Chakravorty, Sanjoy, 212, 213

Chatterton, Alfred, 120, 121

Chennai. See Madras

Chiang Kai-shek, 163, 166

China

agricultural growth and irrigation in 1970s–80s, 259

border with India, 164–165, 177 (map), 225–226, 227–228

civil war and creation of PRC, 176–177

control of water, 164

cyclone and storm forecasts, 104–105

dam building, 178, 219, 300–302

dam financing, 301–302

droughts and famines, 66, 81, 88

economic growth of 1980s, 272

environmental movement, 288, 290–291

flood control, 153, 217–218

food production, 274, 279

food security, 280

groundwater and wells, 279

life expectancy, 190

migration for agriculture in 1930s, 160–161

“moral” meteorology, 72

nationalism, 151, 152–153

population growth, 272

relationship with India, 215–218, 220–223, 225

resource planning for water, 163

river pollution, 291–292

state-directed settlement, 124–125

Tibet interests, 226–227, 300

war with Japan, 165–166

water crisis, 278–279, 291–292

water diversion project, 298–299

water schemes and management, 216, 218–222, 292, 298–299

workers mobilization, 219–220

China Environment Yearbook, 291

China’s Water Crisis (Ma Jun), 291

cities, 127–128, 270–271 (map)

See also coastal regions and cities

citizen scientists, 321

civil society

environmental cooperation, 320–322

famines of 1890s, 84–85, 86–87

climate (weather)

agency of climate, 70–71

Asia as climatic system, 108–109, 173–174

and clouds, 143

complexity, 265–266

and culture, 155–158

cycles changed by human actions, 8, 74–76

dessicationism, 74–75, 139

and Indian Ocean Expedition, 230–231, 234

international cooperation, 320–322

migration and refugees, 317–319

and monsoons, 15–16

as moral concern, 71–73

and politics, 252–253

and population of India, 190–191

risks, 313–315

and understanding of Asia, 155–157

See also meteorology

climate change

and activism, 285–286

and agriculture, 307

and borders, 317–319, 329–330

carbon and CO2 in ocean, 241–242

and cyclones’ intensity, 308–309

impact in Asia, 4, 274, 303–304, 316

international cooperation, 319–320

land cover and forests, 307

and life cycles, 8

and loss, 325–330

and monsoons, 304–305, 307, 308–309

as risk, 268, 273–274, 303–304

and water crisis, 274, 316–317

Climatological Atlas of India (Eliot), 108–109

clouds, 93–95, 143, 251

coastal regions and cities

changes and losses, 326–330

climate change impact, 4

storm risks and preparation, 312–313, 315–316

colonialism, 11–12

See also British India

Colvin, John, 43, 45

Congress party (Indian National Congress), 114, 151, 166–167, 180, 243, 252

resource planning for water, 163–164

control of water

in agrarian history, 7

in Asia, 5–8, 12

and borders, 164–165

British India, 22, 34, 38–45, 46–47, 114, 164–165

and colonialism, 12

Godavari River, 38, 39–40

in India’s history, 26–27, 47

as quest, 5–6

See also irrigation

Cotton, Arthur Thomas, 19 (fig.)

control of water and irrigation, 39–41, 46, 47, 111, 116

Ganges canal, 41–42

Godavari River, 17–20, 39–40

legacy of, 116, 259, 297

and railway, 52

Credner, William, 164

Crutzen, Paul, 305

cultivators. See agriculture

culture, and climate, 155–158

Curzon, Lord, 117

cyclones and storms

1864 storm, 58–59, 60–63

1876 storm, 91–92

1891 and 1897 storms, 106–107

1942 storm, 168–169

Bangladesh, 309–310

and climate change, 308–309

“cyclone” as new word, 60

radar tracking, 314

science and forecasting, 60–63, 104–106, 239, 309, 314–315

See also monsoons

The Cyclones of the Far East (Algué), 105–106, 107 (fig.)

Dalai Lama, 226, 227

Dalhousie, Marquess, 51–52

Dalits, 154, 155, 287–288

Damodar River and Valley, and project, 172–173, 194, 205

dams

and borders, 179

building in Asia, 177–179

in China, 178, 219, 300–302

costs, 179–180

development in India, 177–178, 179, 193–196, 201–203, 207–208, 258, 273, 297–298, 301

displacement of people, 210–211, 212–213, 292, 295–296

environmental impact, 213, 296–297, 299, 302–303

financing, 301–302

in India, 178 (map)

problems from, 4, 294–297, 299, 302–303

protests and resistance, 292–294, 298

symbolism, 179

workers in India, 199–201, 202 (fig.), 203–205

See also hydroelectricity; specific dams and projects

Das, P. K., 242

Davis, Mike, 87

deforestation, 74–76, 139, 172–173, 307

dessicationists, 74–75, 139

Diana (steamboat), 49

Digby, William, 78–79, 80

displacement of people

dams, 210–211, 212–213, 292, 295–296

and land acquisition, 126–127, 210–211, 212

diversion of rivers, 4, 297–299

D’Monte, Darryl, 289

Doel, Ronald, 250, 251

Donaldson, Dave, 54

Douie, James, 122–123, 124

Dowleswaram dam, 18, 40

Drèze, Jean, 261

drought of 1876–1879 in India

description, 65–67

drought science, 69, 71, 72–73, 101, 102

and famine, 65–74

and human intervention, 73–76

rain and rainfall, 65, 67–69

sunspots theory, 82–83

droughts

1896, 84–86

1899–1900, 267

1950s to today, 308

mid-1960s, 230–231, 242–243, 247, 248

1970 to 1973, 260–262

agricultural vs. meteorological droughts, 287

and agriculture, 68–69, 136, 287

and El Niño events, 265

forecasts, 267

insurance in agriculture, 136

and monsoons, 68–69, 230–231

and politics, 252–253

science of, 69, 71, 72–73, 82, 95–96, 101, 102, 230–231

and water distribution, 286–287

Dutt, Romesh Chander, 115–116

earthquake of 1950, 189

East India Company, 33, 45–46, 48–49

Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East (ECAFE), 213–215, 223–224

economy

agriculture and cultivators, 8, 133–136

in British India, 11–12, 38–39, 133–134, 160–161

conditions in post-WWII Asia, 213–214

food economy and control, 192, 243, 280

growth of 1980s in India, 272–273

and irrigation, 133–135

and land, 160–161

market collapse of 1930s, 159–161

and Partition, 183–184, 186–187

policy in 1950s and 60s, 243–244, 245

and railway, 52, 53–55

rice economies in WWII, 170

Ehrlich, Paul, 253

El Niño, 66, 69, 263 (fig.), 264–265

El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), 264–265

electricity. See hydroelectricity

Eliot, John

atlas of climatology of India, 108–109

cyclone and storm science, 92, 104, 106, 107

meteorology, 103–104

monsoons forecasts, 107–108, 138, 139

environment and nature

activism and environmental movement, 281–286, 288, 290–291, 321–322

climate and culture, 157–159

conference of 1972, 253–255

cooperation cross-border, 320–322

dams’ impact, 213, 296–297, 299, 302–303

impact of post-WWII changes, 177

impact on history of Asia, 6–7

migration and migrant workers, 329–330

and Partition, 181–182

problems in 1970s India, 253–254, 255

protests against dams, 292–294

traditional water management, 281–283

vulnerability of India, 5, 114, 134–135, 150, 207–208, 278

water legislation in India, 255–256

environmental crises, impact, 10

epidemics of 1890s in India, 84

erosion, 327–328

Europe, trade to India and Asia, 31–33

Famine Codes, 83, 86, 250

Famine Enquiry Commission (1880), 81–82, 102

famine of 1876–1878 in India

description, 65–66, 68–69

and drought, 65–74

enquiry commission, 81–83

and human intervention, 72–76

and inequality, 73–74

in Madras, 78–79

and meteorology, 69–70, 82–83, 102–103

and monsoon, 82, 83

relief and response, 78–81, 82–83

and state failure, 76–79, 81–82

famines

agriculture and cultivators, 73–74, 116

and capitalism, 73–74, 87–88

consequences, 89

and food imports, 267

and irrigation, 83, 117

and meteorology, 69–70, 82–83, 102–103

responsibility for, 74, 78, 85, 87–88, 115–116, 169–170, 267

solutions to, 136–137

and water schemes, 171

See also specific famines

famines of 1890s in India, 84–87

farmers and farming. See agriculture

Field, J. H., 144

Films Division of India, 198

First Citizen’s Report on the State of India’s Environment (Agarwal and Narain), 282–283

fisheries, 131–133, 165, 328–329

food

feeding challenge in India, 191–193

food aid, 244, 248, 249–250

imports in famines, 267

policy and strategy in India, 243–247

prices, 68–69, 246

production, 274–275, 279–280

riots of 1964, 274–275

security and control, 192, 243, 280

self-sufficiency, 192, 243–244, 322–323

Food Corporation of India, 261–262

Forest Act (1878, India), 76

forests and deforestation, 74–76, 139, 172–173, 307

Freeman, Orville, 248

Friends of Nature, 290, 291

frontiers. See borders

functionalism, 215

Furnivall, John, 161

Gandhi, Indira, 248–249, 249 (fig.), 253–255, 323

Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand “Mahatma,” 149–151, 155, 166, 281

Ganges, 35 (map)

and British power, 33, 34–35

canal, 41–42, 43–45

centrality and reverence in India, 25–26, 44–45, 228

changes in course, 30

custom duties and taxation, 48–49

cyclone of 1876, 92

monsoons’ power, 57–58

navigation and trade, 47–48, 50

pollution, 289–290

and spirituality, 26

steamboats, 49–50

Gangetic plain, and brown cloud, 305–306

Gastrell, James, 61–63

Geological Survey of India, 59

geology, 1–2, 59–60, 118

Ghosh, Amitav, 313

Ginsburg, Norton, 2

glaciers, and climate change, 303

Global Warming in an Unequal World (Agarwal and Narain), 285, 286

Global Weather Experiment, 266

Godavari River, irrigation and control of water, 18–20, 38, 39–41

Gondwana, 59

Gopalaswami, R. A., 188–189, 192

Government of India Act (1919), 143

groundwater, for irrigation and food production, 256–258, 260, 276–280

Gujarat, groundwater and water table, 278

Halley, Edmund, 23

Haridwar headworks, 43

Harper, Kristine, 250, 251

Hart, Henry, 202–203, 205

Hart, Robert, 105

Hart Schaaf, C., 214–215

haze (brown cloud), 2–3, 305–307

Hedin, Sven, 111

Hem Raj, R. B., 141

Hildebrandsson, Hugo, and colleagues, 93–94

Himalayan rivers, x–xi (map), xviii (fig.)

borders and countries, 2, 300

climate change impact, 4, 303–304

dams and dam building, 4, 299–303

data and information sharing, 302, 321

description and history, 2

earthquake of 1950, 189

environmental crises, 10

exploration and mapping, 111

in geopolitical view, 110–112

and pollution, 2–3, 289

as shared water resources, 189, 303–304

Himalayas, 24, 63–64, 109–112, 303–304

Hirakud Dam, 193–194, 204–205

history and history-writing

latent and manifest events, 231

views on water and its impact, 5–10

Hooker, Joseph, 63–64

Hornell, James, 132–133

Huang Wanli, 219

Humboldt, Alexander von, 74

“Hundred Flowers” campaign, 219

Hunter, William Wilson, 109–111

hydroelectricity, 128–129, 257–258, 277, 278, 296

Iltutmish, Sultan, 42

Imperial India. See British India

imperialism, impact on Asia, 11–12

India / Indian subcontinent

ambition post-independence, 193–195, 196, 197–198, 207–208

climatology and politics, 108–109

elections of 1967, 252

infrastructure neglect, 76

as inspiration for water schemes, 223–224

life expectancy, 189–190

political awakening, 114–115, 148–149

population history and growth, 190–191, 269, 272

representative politics, 67–68

state of emergency of 1975, 255

as “subcontinent,” 109–110

traditional water management, 281–283

as vantage point for water history, 10–16

vulnerability towards nature, 5, 114, 134–135, 150, 207–208, 278

water crisis, 278–283, 292

water debates post-independence, 13

water diversion project, 297–298

water legislation, 255–256

water schemes post-WWII, 171–173, 194–195, 218, 221–222, 292–293

water table, 278

wet and dry/arid line, 25

See also British India; specific topics, events, and waters

Indian Industrial Commission, 128, 136

Indian Irrigation Commission, 117–120, 128

Indian Meteorological Office/Department

changes at, 141–142, 143–144, 167

directors, 96, 103, 138, 167

Indian staff and Indianization, 97–99, 144

in International Meteorological Centre, 237

for military in WWII, 167

monsoon forecasts, 103

and Partition, 182–183

Indian National Congress. See Congress party

Indian Ocean

coastal megacities, 270–271 (map), 316

knowledge and study (see Indian Ocean Expedition)

tsunami of 2004, 327–328

Indian Ocean Expedition

carbon and CO2, 241–242

and climate science, 230–231, 234

forecasts of monsoons, 240–241

Indian ships in study, 235

international cooperation, 234–235

meteorology study, 236–237

monsoons and winds, 233–234, 236–237, 239–241, 242

technology in study, 239–241

Indian Rebellion of 1857, 45–46

Indian Supreme Court, 298

Indianization of officials, 143–144

Indonesia, end of imperial rule, 176

Indus Treaty, 206, 319–320

Indus waters

division, 206, 319–320

and Partition, 185–186, 187–188, 205–206, 320

source in China, 188

industrial capitalism. See capitalism

industrial development in British India, 128–129, 130

inequality

and agriculture, 260

and famine, 73–74

and railway, 53, 55–56

rural India, 280–281

and water, 260, 280, 287–288

International Conference on the Law of the Sea (1958), 232

International Meteorological Centre (at Colaba), 237, 238–239

International Meteorological Organisation (IMO), 93–94

Irrawaddy triangle, borders and control of water, 164–165

irrigation

and agriculture, 28, 122, 133–135, 192, 256, 258–259

and economy, 133–135

and famine, 83, 117

Godavari River, 18–20, 39–41

groundwater and wells, 119–121, 256–258, 260, 276–280

investment and intervention, 40, 118–119

overview as problem, 4

and Partition, 181

Punjab and Canal Colonies, 122–124, 125–126, 133, 181, 184–185, 186

rain and rainfall, 118

irrigation schemes

early India, 26–27, 28, 47

British India, 19–20, 38, 40, 116, 122–124, 126

independent India, 194–196, 256–257, 258–259

Iyer, Ramaswamy, 296–297, 298

Jakarta, 316

Jammu and Kashmir, and Partition, 185

Japan, 130, 132, 165–166, 168

Jinnah, Muhammad Ali, 167, 180

Johnson, Lyndon Baines “LBJ,” 248, 250–251

JOIDES Resolution (ship), 310

Julian, Paul, 265

Kashmir, 185, 247–248

Kaveri River, dispute, 162–163, 206–207

Khan, Mehboob, 207, 208–209

Khosla, A. N., 195–196

Kipling, Rudyard, 57

Kolkata. See Calcutta

Krishnamachari, T. T., 246

Krishnarajasagar dam, 162, 163, 206

La Niña, 264–265

Ladejinsky, Wolf, 260–261, 280

Lakshminarayana, V., 258

land

acquisition and displacement of people, 126–127, 210–211, 212

and economy, 160–161

redistribution and zamindari abolition, 191

Land Acquisition Act (1894, India) and officers, 126, 210, 211

Larkin, David, 209, 210

law of the sea, and territorial waters, 232–233

legislation in India, 255–256

Li Yizhi, 153

Liang Congjie, 290–291

Lilienthal, David, 187–188, 202, 206, 215

Lokanathan, P., 214, 223

Ma Jun, 291–292

MacGeorge, George W., 43, 52, 55

Mackinder, Halford, 111–112

Madden, Roland, 265

Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO), 265–266

Madras (now Chennai)

famine, 78–79, 80–81

fisheries, 131, 132, 165

water mining, 120–121

Madras Presidency, 162–163, 206, 206–207

Mahad (India), struggle for freedom, 154

Mahalanobis, Prasanta Chandra, 193, 243

Maharashtra, drought, 260–262, 280

malaria, 295

Malaya (now Malaysia), migrant workers, 161

Manchuria, 124–125

Mani, Anna, 237–238

Manila Observatory, 104, 105–106

Manto, Saadat Hasan, 182

Mao Zedong, 177, 178, 188, 219–220

Maoist insurgency, 280–281

Marsh, George Perkins, 75

Marx, Karl, 52

megacities in Asia, 270–271 (map), 316

megaprojects in India, 193–194

Mehta, M. C., 289–290

Mekong River, 178–179, 223–225, 250

Melaka, textiles, 30–31

Merrall, Edwin, 52–53

meteorology

and agriculture, 36–38

Asia as integrated climatic system, 108–109

clouds study, 93–95

data collection and sharing, 96–97, 101–102, 104–105, 183, 317, 321

drought science, 69, 71, 72–73

and famines, 69–70, 82–83, 102–103

monsoon science, 36–38, 60–64, 92–93, 98–104, 109, 137, 139–143, 236–237, 304–306, 310, 315, 317

“moral” meteorology, 72–73

and Partition, 183

politics and climate, 108–109

as science, 93

ships in research, 58, 60, 61–62, 92, 102, 104–105, 305, 310

in WWII, 167–168

See also climate; Indian Meteorological Office/Department

Mettur Dam, 161–162

migration and migrant workers, 160–161, 317–319

military, 29

See also Second World War (WWII)

Modi, Narendra, 293–294

Moneka (ship), 61

“Monsoon Asia,” 170, 307

Monsoon Experiment (MONEX), 266–267

monsoons, xiv–xv (maps)

and agriculture, 114, 170, 266, 276, 308

and Asia, 155–157, 176

in British India, 21–22, 36–37, 40, 58–59

changes and shifts, 326, 327–328

and climate, 15–16

climate change, 304–305, 307, 308–309

and culture, 155–158

data collection, 61–62, 92, 101–102, 104–105, 305, 310, 317

definition and terminology, 13, 22

description, 13–14, 23–24

and disease, 39

and drought, 68–69, 230–231

and ENSO, 264–265

failure of 1965 and 1966, 242–243, 247, 248

famine of 1876–1878 in India, 82, 83

forecasts, 102–103, 107–108, 138, 139–140, 142–143, 240–241, 266–267, 275, 308, 310

history and evolution, 22–23

impact and human responses to, 15

as lived experience, 229–230

and meteorological science, 36–38, 60–64, 92–93, 98–104, 109, 137, 139–143, 236–237, 304–306, 310, 315, 317

planning and preparation for, 313

power and dangers, 57–58

predictability and patterns, 25, 100, 306–307, 310, 326

and railway in India, 52–53

and rain science, 95–96, 100–101, 140–141, 304–305

rice economies in WWII, 170

and rivers in India, 25–26

role and influence in India, 13–16, 24–25, 156–157, 275–276

science of, 63–64, 92–93, 262–266, 310

and seabed, 310

statistical analysis, 139–140

as system and pattern, 23–25

and transportation, 51, 52–53

wet and dry line in India, 25

and wind, 23–24, 99–100, 233, 236–237

See also cyclones and storms

Mother India (movie), 207–208, 209–210

Mueenuddin, Daniyal, 278

Mughal Empire, 27–30, 42

Mukerjee, Radhakamal, 157–159

Mukherjee, H. N., 247

Mukherjee, Neel, 229–230

Mumbai (was Bombay), 310–312, 311 (map), 312 (fig.), 313

municipal water supply, 128

Muslim League, 167, 180

Mysore, 129, 131, 162–163, 206

Nangal Canal, 197–198

See also Bhakra Dam

Naoroji, Dadabhai, 77–78, 115

Narain, Sunita, 283, 285

Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA or “Save Narmada Movement”), 293–294

Narmada project, 292–294, 295

Nash, Vaughan, 85, 86

nationalism

awakening in India, 114–115, 148–149

and castes, 154–155

in China, 151, 152–153

development in Asia, 147–148, 151–153

fractures between states, 148, 170

Gandhi’s rise and work, 149–151

and power and freedom, 152, 154–155

and self-sufficiency, 171

and water, 148, 152–154

water schemes post-WWII, 171–173

nature. See environment and nature

Nehru, Jawaharlal

annexation of Tibet, 188, 215

Bhakra Dam and Nangal Canal, 196–197 (figs.), 197–198

economic strategy, 243

famine in Bengal in WWII, 169–170

on freedom, 152

Hirakud Dam, 193–194

land redistribution and zamindari abolition, 191

and Partition, 182, 185

political waning and death, 228

relationship with China, 198, 215, 226, 228

resource planning, 163

on size of projects, 213

and starvation problem, 168, 171

water schemes in China, 221

Nicholson, Frederick, 131–132

Nightingale, Florence, 72, 77

Nile River, 140

Normand, Charles, 16, 141, 142–143, 167, 265

North American Review, and Ganges Canal, 44–45

northeast monsoon, xiv (map), 24

oceans

changes and erosion, 327–328

seabed and monsoons, 310

territorial waters and law of the sea, 232–233

See also Indian Ocean

oil engines for water extraction, 120–121

Oshima, Harry, 276, 279

Osterhammel, Jürgen, 88

Pacific Ocean, and monsoons, 264

Pakistan

canals, 184–185, 186, 187–188

economy, 186–187

Indus waters, 185–186

irrigation and agriculture, 258

Kashmir clashes, 247–248

meteorology, 183

Partition, 180–181, 183–188

Partition, 176 (map)

and borders, 180–182

canals and water schemes, 181, 184–185, 186, 187–188

description, 175, 180–181

impact on government and institutions of India, 182–184

and Indus waters, 185–186, 187–188, 205–206, 320

Patkar, Medha, 293, 294 (fig.), 296

Pedder, W. G., 73

Persian Wheel method, 28

“Philindus,” 75

Philippines, cyclone science, 104, 105–106

photography of droughts, 84–85

Piddington, Henry, 60

Pillai, Vellu, 203

Pillai, Villiyappa, 73

Pires, Tomé, 30–31

PL-480 (Public Law 480), 244, 248, 249

plants, impact of climate change, 326

Pogson, Elizabeth Isis, 96–97, 101

pollution

brown cloud, 2–3, 305–306

impact on water cycle, 2–3

rivers, 2–3, 289–292, 290 (fig.)

water legislation in India, 255–256

Pomeranz, Kenneth, 10

Pondicherry, changes and erosion, 327, 328 (fig.)

Poona Sarvajanik Sabha (“the Sabha”), 67–68, 74, 75–76, 86–87

population growth, 190–191, 253, 255, 269, 272

Portugal, trade in India, 31–32

poverty, and ecological problems, 254

Project Gromet, 251

Public Law 480 (PL-480), 244, 248, 249

Punjab

agricultural problems, 277–278, 283–284

displacement of people, 210–211

groundwater and wells, 277–278

irrigation and canals, 121–124, 125–126, 133, 181, 184–185, 186

Partition, 180–181, 184–185, 186–187

Quit India Movement, 166

Radcliffe, Cyril, 180, 181

Radcliffe’s line, 176 (map), 186

Raghavan, S., 314–315

railway in India

development and expansion, 51–52, 53, 54–56

and hydrology, 56–57

inequality and change, 53, 55–56

monsoons and climate, 52–53

and technology, 56–57

in trade and economy, 52, 53–55

rain and rainfall

and agriculture, 95, 134–136, 260, 279

cloud injections, 251

data collection in British India, 96–97, 118, 134–135

decline in India, 305

drought of 1876–79, 65, 67–69

and El Niño, 264–265

failure in India and China, 66–67, 95, 136, 242–243, 247, 248, 251

and irrigation, 118

“moral” meteorology, 72

Mumbai storm of 2005, 310–312

pattern and description, 13–14, 23–24, 66, 305

planning and preparation for, 313

rainfall insurance, 136

science and monsoons, 95–96, 100–101, 140–141, 304–305

and water infrastructure, 77

Ramage, Colin, 237, 239–241, 266, 267

Raman, C. R., 240

Ramanathan, Veerabhadran, 305

Ranade, Mahadev Govind, 115

Rao, K. L.

irrigation plans, 259, 297

water schemes in China, 216–218, 219, 220–222

Rennell, James, 34–36

resource planning, for water, 163–164

Revelle, Roger, 233, 241, 258

rice economies in WWII, 170

rivers

changes and diversions, 4, 29–30, 297–299

and monsoon, 25–26

pollution, 2–3, 289–292, 290 (fig.)

vessels for trade, 47–48, 49–50

See also specific rivers and areas

Roxburgh, William, 36–38

Roy, Arundhati, 295

Ruchi Ram, Lala, 98–99, 104

rural India

drought, 286–287

inequalities, 280–281

monsoon rains and water problems, 275, 281–283, 286–287

Russia, water schemes, 218–219, 222–223

Saha, Meghnad, 171–173

Sain, Kanwar

Bhakra Dam, 196

Mekong River commission, 223–225

water schemes in China, 216–218, 219, 220–223

Sainath, Palagummi, 286–287, 288

“salt march,” 155

Sanmenxia Dam, 218–219

satellite photography, for science, 239, 240–241

Scott-Moncrieff, Colin, 117, 118

seabed and monsoons, 310

Season Watch, 321

Second World War (WWII), 166–169, 170, 175

Seuss, Hans, 241

Shah, Firoz, 42

Shah, Gyansham, and colleagues, 287–288

Shah, Tushaar, 277

Shastri, Lal Bahadur, 243, 248

ships, information on monsoons and meteorology, 58, 60, 61–62, 92, 102, 104–105, 305, 310

Shiva, Vandana, 283–284

Simpson, G. C., 141

Singh, Deepti, 307

Singh, Khushwant, 275, 278

Singh, Manmohan, 272

Sion, Jules, 128

Slocum, Harvey, 199, 200 (fig.)

Smith, Zadie, 325

Solani aqueduct, 43

South Africa, 149–150

South Asia’s rivers, xii–xiii (map)

South to North line project, 298–299

Southern Oscillation, 140, 142, 264

southwest monsoon, xv (map), 13–14, 23–24

Soviet Union. See Russia

Srinivasan, B., 199–200

steamboats, 49–51

Stommel, Henry, 234

storms. See cyclones and storms

Strachey, Richard, 69, 71, 81–82

Subramaniam, C., 244–247, 248

suicides of cultivators, 287

Sullivan, H. E., 82

Sun Yat-sen, 152–153

Sundara Raj, V., 165

sunspots theory of drought, 82–83

Supratik (in The Lives of Others), 229–230

Sutlej River, 199

Swadeshi movement, 148–149

Tansa project, 128

Tata and Sons, 129

taxation, 48–49, 116

Tchernia, Paul, 233

technology, impact on water, 8, 145

Temple, Richard, 70, 80–81

territorial waters, and law of the sea, 232–233

textiles trade, 30–31

Third Pole, 321

Third World, 284–285

Third World Network, 284–285

Tibet, 188, 215, 226–227, 300

Tibetan Plateau, xviii (fig.), 1–2, 188–189

Todd, Charles, 102

trade

boats for, 47–48, 49–50

early trade, 30–33

and railway, 52, 53–55

transportation, and monsoons, 51, 52–53

Trevelyan, Charles, 48–49

tsunami of 2004, 327–328

tubewells, 160, 256–257, 257 (fig.), 277

Tungabhadra Dam and River, 203, 204, 211

typhoons. See cyclones and storms

UN conference on environment (1972), 253–255

UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, 233

underground aquifers. See groundwater

United Nations, Indus dispute, 185

United States

agricultural policy in India, 245

Bihar famine of 1966–1967, 248, 249–250

food aid to India, 244, 248

Mekong River and interests in Asia, 223, 224, 250

in monsoon study, 234, 239

weather control schemes, 250–251

Vairamuthu, 295–296

Vakil, C. N., 183–184

Vasco da Gama, 31–32

Vietnam, 176, 178–179, 250

The Violence of the Green Revolution (Shiva), 283–284

Visvesvaraya, Mokshagundam, 129–131, 162

Walker, Gilbert

background and interests, 137–138, 142

breakthroughs in weather science, 139, 140–141, 142, 143

climate in India, 15–16

Indianization of staff, 144

monsoon science and forecasts, 139–140, 142–143, 236, 264

rainfall in India, 140–141

Water Act (1974, India), 255–256, 289

water control. See control of water

water crisis, 269, 272–274, 278–283, 291–292, 316–317

water mining. See groundwater

water table in India, 278

Watsuji Tetsuro, 155–157

weather. See climate

weather control schemes, 250–251

Webster, Peter, 265, 267

wells, for irrigation, 119–121, 256–258, 260

Wheeler, Raymond, 224

Wickizer, V. D., 170

wind

and monsoons, 23–24, 99–100, 233, 236–237

and trade to India, 31–32

Wittfogel, Karl, 7

World Bank

agricultural policy in India, 245

climate migration, 319

and dams, 194, 206, 292, 293, 296

Maharashtra drought, 260–261

World Commission on Dams, 296, 297

World War II. See Second World War

Yamuna River and Canal, 28, 42–43

Yangzi River, 40–41, 291–292

Yarlung Tsangpo. See Brahmaputra

Yellow River, 153, 163, 166, 218–219, 291

Yunnan, control of water, 164–165

Zhou Enlai, 197 (fig.), 198, 219, 220, 226