India is in the midst of a debilitating drought, as about 330 million people are suffering from water shortages. In towns and villages across the affected states, water has become a scarce commodity with the government now running a few water tanks that only cater to a fraction of the need. Despite the scale and urgency of the calamity, news regarding the drought remains absent from the media narrative and within political circles. 

Distressed farmers continue to take their lives, with over 200 suicides already reported this year. Maharashtra heads the list, as it did in 2015 reporting 1841 farmer suicides as per the data placed in Parliament by the government.