In India, El Nino hasn't meant strong winds and torrential rainfall. Quite the opposite in fact - the country is currently experiencing a severe drought which has caused deaths, water shortages and crop failures. And the country will also suffer financially. It's expected that India's losses will add up to around 100 billion US dollars. And while the coming La Niña might bring India some much-needed rain, it will take more than one good monsoon season to wash away the savage effects of the El Nino. 10 states across India are suffering from massive droughts, impacting 330 million people out of its 1 billion population… A study done by the Associated Chambers of Commerce shows that two consecutive years of droughts have led to a massive water shortage. The situation is so grim, and a large part of the money earmarked for the country’s development will now have to go towards aid and subsidies. This places much pressure on the government and the economy. "Around 35 reservoirs… big reservoirs store 80 per cent of the water in this country. And if you look at their conditions, it’s highly worrying for everybody," said D.S. Rawat, Secretary General of Assoc. Chambers of Commerce. The drought has also created inflationary pressures…. making food management a challenge in the coming months. India is looking at the upcoming monsoons as a silver lining, but economists say the country should also be looking at the drought as a warning sign of things to come. Climate change and global warming are starting to impact the Asian region. Two-thirds of India’s agricultural land is dependent on monsoons. And with its ground reservoirs drying up, it looks like India will have to look at other ways to irrigate its farmlands. Parched lands, farmer suicides, and migration from drought-hit regions to urban areas have become the order of the day for most Indians… And no doubt, this will take a toll on India’s dream of becoming a trillion dollars economy with no poor people by 2032…. "On one hand, they have lost their crops, resulting in the price of agriculture products going up. At the same time, because people have a lesser purchasing power, circulation in the market will influence the demand as far as industry products are concerned," said G.P Srivastava, economist. Even though the country has a national crop insurance scheme, many Indian farmers don’t even have the money to pay the premiums for it. But with El Niño weakening and La Niña coming in, the monsoons are expected to be good in India… The 2015-16 El Niño was the main reason for a 14 per cent rain deficit in India. And the arrival of La Niña for India means above-normal monsoon rainfall this year. But it is highly unlikely that the rains will help, as most farmers are in debt and lack the capital to even buy seeds. Experts say the 100 billion dollar loss to the economy is just the tip of the iceberg. The subsidies, which the government will have to hand out to its poor, will have a massive impact on its current account deficit. And that remains a big issue for a country that is aiming to become an economic powerhouse. Source - http://english.cctv.com