Once the worlds wettest places, Cherrapunji is getting up to 20% less rain every year - and is suffering water shortages. Residents say their heavenly abode in the clouds is hotter and drier than ever before - and they blame it on global warming.
Cherrapunji - or Sohra in the local Khasi language - is located in the West Khasi Hills of India's north-eastern state of Meghalaya. Never were there very big forests around Cherrapunji and many of those that are there are sacred to us, says Millergrace Symlieh, a senior member of Sohra Science Society.
We never cut a branch in these sacred forests. So you cannot say this adverse weather change is our creation. We are affected by what's happening all over the world, he said. This hot weather and less rain here is not due to huge deforestation or massive industrialization, says Mr. Symlieh. We only have a cement plant near here.
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