NE monsoon worst in 140 Years, 144 farmers dead, TN declares drought

The Tamil Nadu government declared a drought on January 10, 2017, after 144 farmers ended their lives (according to media reports here and here) between October and December, 2016. As many as 106 farmers were reported to have committed suicide in one month, according to this notice issued by the National Human Rights Commission to the state government on January 5, 2017.

The retreating northeast monsoon—usually unnoticed in India owing to the singular importance of the larger southwest monsoon—in 2016 was the worst ever