Droughts

Drought is a long period of complete dryness. It can occur anywhere in the world. It happens because of uneven distribution, failed monsoons, and water shortage.

WHO estimates that 55 million people globally are affected by droughts every year. WHO also predicts 700 million people will be at risk because of droughts by 2030.

According to the Drought Early Warning System, 21.06% of land in India is facing drought-like conditions in August 2021, compared to 7.86% in 2020. Drought-prone areas in India can be divided as:

• Extreme dry: 1.63%
• Exceptional dry: 1.73%
• Severe dry: 2.17%
• Moderately dry: 8.15%
• Abnormally dry: 7.38%

Control Measures:

• Recognise groundwater potential in aquifers
• Transmit river water from the excess to the shortage areas
• Design for inter-linking of rivers and building of reservoirs and dams
• Use Remote sensing and satellite images to identify the possible river basins. These river basins can be interlinked and recognise the groundwater capability
• Distribute knowledge about drought-resistant crops and proper assistance to utilise the same in the long term
• Rainwater harvesting

Consequences of Drought

• Health issues related to low availability of water or poor water quality
• Decline in incomes and livelihoods
• Mental health issues related to the economic and personal losses
• Death of people and wildlife
• Migration of wildlife due to lack of food and water for survival
• Soil erosion
• More Wildfires, and much more.

2nd ARC Recommendations On Drought Management:

• The Deployment of remote sensing as the primary tool for diagnosing droughts, monitoring their course, and forecasting prognosis is a goal that needs to be pursued speedily and systematically
• In extremely drought-prone areas, a plan for making people pursue livelihoods well-matched with their ecosystems needs to be developed. Some tangible steps in this direction could be:
  • A multi-disciplinary squads need to be constituted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests to identify villages where soil and climatic conditions make ‘conventional agriculture’ unsustainable
  • Alternate incomes of living have to be evolved in discussion with the communities in such areas
  • A National Institute of Drought Management may be set up to network on multi-disciplinary, cross-sectoral research on various aspects of drought, act as a resource centre on droughts, and carry out impact evaluation studies of the drought management efforts

Drought Prevention and Mitigation:

• The Drought Prone Areas Programme (DPAP) and Desert Development Programme (DDP) have been implemented by the Government of India since 1973-74 and 1977-78, respectively
• These programmes aim at drought-proofing and reducing desertification of delicate areas. These areas are in the arid, semi-arid, and dry-sub humid regions and are frequently affected by severe drought situations and desertification
• The National Rainfed Area Authority in the Ministry of Agriculture is set up to report the issue of drought mitigation on a long-term basis. It comprises experts who provide knowledge inputs regarding systematic upgradation and management of the country’s dry land and rainfed agriculture.

NDMA guidelines for Drought Management:

• In 2010, the NDMA issued guidelines for managing droughts that will act as a base for State governments and the Union Territories to minimise the hazard. Its key features are:
  • Drought monitoring cells DMCs to be created at the state level
  •  Use of information and communication technology for real-time drought-related information
  • For comprehensive information, the ground-based information is to be collated and synchronised with the satellite-based information to have a broader picture about the onset, occurrence, and severity
  • Vulnerability maps must be prepared for each state by the respective state DMCs
  • Agricultural research institutes to research and develop drought-resistant varieties of crops
  • Promotion of crop diversification and use of drip and sprinkler irrigation systems
  • All productive animals must be provided with fodder to prevent the distressed sale of animals
  • If possible, corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives to be coupled with drought management strategies

Conclusion

Droughts have been inadequately addressed in India due to a variety of reasons like lack of policies and standardised institutions, proper planning, and coordination between different functional units. India is a drought susceptible country. With the increasing number of drought-prone areas, the government needs to look and provide for alternate sources of livelihood. We also need to prevent drought in other areas and also look for ways to replenish the depleting water tables in the country. Adaptation strategies are required both at an individual level and a strategic level.