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WHAT IS DROUGHT ? MAHARASTRA DROUGHT 2013

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First semester, M.Arch CCA, Chandigarh SESSION 2020-2021 Submitted By: Yogita Kumari M20/40 DROUGHT [ MAHARASTRA DROUGHT 2013] Image: Anirudha Dutta
WHAT IS DROUGHT ? Drought is a temporary aberration, unlike aridity or even seasonal aridity (in terms of a welldefined dry season), which is a permanent feature of climate. Drought in contrast is a recurrent, yet sporadic feature of climate, known to occur under all climatic regimes and is usually characterized by variability in terms of its spatial expanse, intensity and duration. What is universally accepted is that drought stems from a deficiency or erratic distribution in rainfall but the spread and intensity of the calamity is contingent on several factors, including the status of surface and ground water resources, agro-climatic features, cropping choices and patterns, socio-economic vulnerabilities of the local population etc. It is difficult to provide a precise and universally accepted definition of drought due to its complex nature and varying characteristics that manifest across different agro-climatic regions of the world in a myriad different ways. Drought, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), is defined as a ‘period of abnormally dry weather long enough to cause a serious hydrological imbalance’. (IPCC 2012:558) A World Health Organization (WHO) technical brief, describes drought as a ‘slow-onset’ phenomena caused by rainfall deficit and other factors that may result in ‘mass displacement of population.
IMAGE : WATER SCARCITY. REUTERS
Drought differs from other natural hazards such as cyclones, floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis in that: • There is no universally accepted definition that can encapsulate the complexity of this phenomenon adequately. • It is difficult to determine the beginning and end of a drought episode because of the slow, ‘creepy’ onset, silent spread and gradual withdrawal. In India, it is generally considered to be coterminous with the monsoons. • An episode could spill over months or even years with or without any accompanying shift in the geographical arena. • There is no indicator or index which can precisely forecast the advent and severity of a drought event, nor project its possible impacts. • Spatial expanse tends to be far greater than in the case of other natural calamities, which when compounded by the difficulties associated with the impact assessment of the disaster, makes effective response highly challenging. • Impacts are generally non-structural and difficult to quantify e.g. the damage to the ecology, the disruption of socio-economic fabric of communities, the long term effects of mal-nutrition on health and morbidity etc. • The impact tends to get magnified in the event of successive droughts.
IMPACTS OF DROUGHT ECONOMIC: Production losses in agriculture and related sectors, especially animal husbandry, dairy, poultry, horticulture and fisheries. It affects livelihoods and quality of life for the majority of farmers, share croppers, farm labourers, artisans, small rural businesses and rural population in general that is dependent on agriculture. ENVIORNMENTAL: Low water levels in ground water and surface reservoirs, lakes and ponds, reduced flows in springs, streams and rivers, loss of forest cover, migration of wildlife and sharpening man-animal conflicts and general stress on biodiversity. SOCIAL: outmigration of the population from drought affected areas, rise in school dropout rates, greater immiseration and indebtedness, alienation of land and livestock assets, malnutrition, starvation and loss of social status among the most vulnerable sections.
MONITORING AND EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS: Drought is a complex phenomenon characterized by slow onset. Careful monitoring of the symptoms of drought and early warning are key to effective management of the calamity. It is essential that along with a drought monitoring system, medium and long term area specific plans be prepared for drought proofing of susceptible areas. Institutional Structures: Central Drought Relief Commissioner (CDRC), Crop Weather Watch Group (CWWG), Drought Monitoring Centres (DMCs) Scientific & Support Organisations: India Meteorological Department (IMD), Mahalanobis National Crop Forecast Centre(MNCFC), Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation (MoWR, RD & GR), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), State Remote Sensing Application Centres (SRSACs). KEY VARIABLES FOR MONITORING DROUGHT Meteorological Data – Rainfall and other parameters like Temperature Wind speed and Relative Humidity Weather forecast - Short, medium, extended range Soil moisture Sown Area / Crop Health / Stress Satellite based Vegetation Groundwater Levels Stream Flow - Discharge Reservoir and Lake Storage
MAHARASTRA DROUGHT 2013
MAHARASTRA DROUGHT 2013 • Due to the failure of monsoon rains in 2011, the Government of Maharashtra declared a drought in 7,753 villages in 15 districts of the state in October 2011. Monsoon rains in 2012 were also inadequate leading to further deterioration of the already desperate situation and adversely impacting crop productivity, water storage in the dams, reservoirs, ponds, and other drinking water sources along with fodder supplies. Indian agriculture is heavily dependent on the climate and a favourable southwest summer monsoon is critical in securing water for irrigating crops. Consequently, in January 2013 the State Government was forced to declare drought in 7,896 villages in Maharashtra.
REASONS: • Geography:  One-third of the state falls under the semi-arid climatic zone and has its agriculture dependent on the monsoons. Deficient rainfall is reported once every 5 years and drought conditions occur once every 8-9 years As high as 80% to 84% of the agriculture in Maharashtra is rainfed, which means that it totally depends on rainfall for its crops but there is a huge variability in rainfall in different regions of the state. • Lack of planning, short sightedness and pure disregard shown for the situation at the policy level. • Focus on water-intensive crops like sugarcane for better and assured money :  Sugarcane is one of the most water-intensive crops grown in Maharashtra, requiring ten times more water than Jowar or nut. Ironically, the regions where it is grown the most are chronically drought hit regions, which have been receiving central aid for drought proofing though the Drought Proof Area Program and other such schemes. Sugarcane area under drip irrigation in these regions is dismally low. • Development of industries and cities have also put an additional load on water resources from dams.  Maharashtra has by far the largest number of Big Dam in India. In 1972, some of the big irrigation projects in the worst drought affected districts. In 40 years since 1972, Maharashtra has built a very large number of big dams, ostensibly to help these drought prone areas. • The drought is also mainly due to brazen ground water extraction. Although Maharashtra was the first to regulate ground water resources, poor implementation of the law has helped lead to the current.
EFFECT OF THE DROUGHT ON PEOPLE, LIVESTOCK, FOOD PRODUCTION AND ENVIRONMENT: • Drying up of water storage tanks, ponds and wells along with depletion of water- table in drought hit areas; • 27% of cereal area not sown during 2012-13 i.E. Only 3,010,000 hectors against the normal sowing area of 4,134,000 hectors and 31% less against the target of 4,369,000 hectors; • Over 18.1% food grain production dropped to 10.4 million tonnes from 12.7 million tonnes; • Gross state domestic product for the last fiscal year dropped to 7.1% from estimated 8.5%; • Severe shortage of potable water; • Villages and hamlets are dependent on water supplies brought by tanker or bullock- carts, which are irregular and insufficient for the communities; • Severe shortage of fodder and water for animals, large number of livestock survival depends on the cattle camps across the state; • Distress sale of livestock and sending livestock to relatives in non affected regions; • No employment for the people dependent on agriculture and allied sectors and • Large scale migration of poor and marginalized to cities to find work.
VILLAGE-LEVEL RESPONSES TO DROUGHT • At the local level, the Gram Panchayats in villages early on in August 2012, organized meetings and mobilized people to attract the attention of the government and external actors in terms of water tankers, new water supply schemes, and assistance in renovating old watershed development schemes or providing support for new schemes. • Frequent local meetings were held, declarations agreed upon, and the Sarpanches would mobilize politico-administrative channels in order to gain support from various external institutions and schemes (through the block level administration, political parties, and NGOs). • Some Sarpanches would engage to ensure water saving and more equal distribution of water. As the water level in farmers’ wells started dropping quickly (or they remained empty), the farmers reacted by saving water or prioritizing water to seed plots of cotton and other high-value crops. • The local drip irrigation systems were helpful especially for the sweet lime and seed farmers, but this was mostly among the medium- or large-scale farmers. • In order to meet local demands, the state and district government engaged in both short term relief measures and long-term drought risk management. The focus of attention by the government was first on responding to water scarcity in terms of drinking water, water and fodder for animals, and water for crops.
GOVERNMENT RESPONSE : • In response to the 2012 drought, the government initiated a set of appropriate emergency and more long-term measures. • However, the scope and outreach of the relief was not adequate to meet local demands given the magnitude of impacts. The measures pursued were sometimes unevenly distributed. The emergency programmes also carried heavy costs on the part of the government. APPROPRIATE EMERGENCY AND MORE LONG-TERM MEASURES To provide drinking water Fodder camps Crop-loss compensation Watershed development Local employment(MGNREGS)
GOVERENMENT RESPONSE: • Both the government of Maharashtra and the government of India have made several attempts to bring forward an overall or better coordinated drought risk management strategy. At the national level, there is the national action plan on climate change (released in 2008) which has instituted eight national missions to further climate change adaptation, mitigation, energy efficiency, and natural resources conservation (with sustainable agriculture and integrated water resources management). • A crisis management plan for drought (2012) was issued by the government of india, with many critical elements for the management of a drought. • There is also the contingency and compensatory agriculture plans for droughts and floods in india (2012) published by the planning commission. The government of maharashtra has summarized experiences from past droughts, especially the 2002–04 droughts, and compiled these in several policy-oriented memorandums to the government. • The government mobilized schemes to meet demand of specific villages for more permanent water supply schemes. Both during and post-drought, the government engaged in de-silting of water reservoirs and local watershed check-dams and smaller streams, reflecting that many of these structures over time had been mismanaged and silted up.
• Crop compensation losses schemes were also launched on a large scale. While farmers greatly appreciated these schemes, due to many having production losses of more than 50 per cent against normal years, they also complained about the way crop losses were estimated, low maximum compensation (per hectare) and late payments. • There are many imperfections in the governance relief response system compared to local demands, which are also not surprising given the severity of the 2012 drought and the scale of impacts. For example, there were problems in terms of outreach to diverse social groups and villages and timeliness in support (e.g., late payment for MGNREGS labour and delayed efforts to rescue sweet lime orchards). • The extensive emergency system in Maharashtra comes with a substantial financial and administrative burden on the government. The total expenditures of the Government of Maharashtra to the drought damages and relief in 2012 are likely to amount to more than the total annual allocation to agriculture, irrigation, and rural development .
State says 59.9% rainfall, IMD says 73%: Highlights and discrepancies of Maharashtra’s Monsoon There is definitely a need to streamline and improve monsoon rainfall reporting. This is especially important at a time when policies, drought assistance, insurance payment to farmers and water allocation decisions are heavily dependent on rainfall figures. As many as 3,228 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra in 2015, the highest since 2001, according to data tabled in the Rajya Sabha on March 4, 2016 – that is almost nine farmers every day. How water inequality governs drought-hit Maharashtra A resident of Pune, Maharashtra’s second-most developed city, uses five times as much water as her counterpart in Latur, the district most ravaged by drought in the south- central Marathwada region. 10,000 Litres For Helipad As Minister Visits Drought-Hit Maharashtra: Activist Bhiwandi: In Maharashtra, which is battling severe drought, 10,000 litres of water was used in preparing a make-shift helipad for a union minister's chopper, a BJP activist has alleged in a letter to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. NEWS RELATED TO MAHARASTRA DROUGHT:
CONCLUSION • Frequent droughts are known to have widespread, long term and devastating social and environmental effects. Less visible to policy makers the debilitating effects of drought are most often absorbed by the poorest communities and the agricultural sector. • No prior drought emergency action plan existed at district level prior to the 2012 drought. There was also no real drought early warning system at this level, although the situation was monitored closely from the District Collector’s office, as well as from GOM centrally. In fact, IMD had suggested ‘normal’ monsoons in their forecast. • Water shortage in Maharashtra State is a major problem. Different parts of the state face water scarcity almost every year and the situation is exacerbated during drought years. To cope up with the problem of household drinking water scarcity the option of modern rainwater harvesting technologies and groundwater recharge should be promoted. In the case of agriculture, a detailed crop and rainwater management plan should be developed for the rain-fed regions of India. It is crucial that these plans quantify and account for uncertainties associated with climate variability and climate change. Use of organic manure in farm (for example, composting and recovery of farm yard manure and food waste, use of green mulching, etc.) can favorably modify the physical properties of soil.
Overall, from a drought risk management perspective, it is critical that the short-term drought relief planning and investments become better integrated with the long-term adaptation agenda and sector development programmes. The inclusion of watershed development as a focal area for MGNREGS is interesting both from an integrated environment/climate change protection program and from a social perspective. Greater impacts on local watershed development and farming systems and thus community-based resilience can be achieved if the central government ensures improved policy and programme integration and greater transfer of capacity and powers to the district and local level levels for coordination and convergence of climate services, water governance and development programs.
REFERENCES • Drought in Jalna Community-based Adaptation to Extreme Climate Events in Maharashtra Trond Vedeld, Guro Aandahl, Line Barkved, Ulka Kelkar, Karianne de Bruin, Prutha Lanjekar/© The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research (NIBR), 2014 • Manual for drought management/ Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Government of India New Delhi/2016 • http://indiatogether.org/drought-agriculture--2 • https://www.indiawaterportal.org/articles/droughts-maharashtra-lack-management-or-vagaries-climate- change • IND131 – Maharashtra Drought Relief & Rehab 5 situation. • Drought Impacts and Adaptation Strategies for Agriculture and Rural Livelihood in the Maharashtra State of India Parmeshwar D. Udmale, Yutaka Ichikawa , Anthony S. Kiem and Sudhindra N. Panda /The Open Agriculture Journal, 2014, 8, 41-47 • https://sandrp.in/tag/maharashtra-drought/page/3/ • http://www.businessworld.in/article/9-Farmers-Commit-Suicide-Daily-In-Drought-Hit-Maharashtra/06-04- 2016-95415/’ • https://www.rediff.com/business/special/special-how-water-inequality-governs-drought-hit- maharashtra/20160601.htm • https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/10-000-litres-for-helipad-as-minister-visits-drought-hit-maharashtra- activist-1397535

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WHAT IS DROUGHT ? MAHARASTRA DROUGHT 2013

  • 1. First semester, M.Arch CCA, Chandigarh SESSION 2020-2021 Submitted By: Yogita Kumari M20/40 DROUGHT [ MAHARASTRA DROUGHT 2013] Image: Anirudha Dutta
  • 2. WHAT IS DROUGHT ? Drought is a temporary aberration, unlike aridity or even seasonal aridity (in terms of a welldefined dry season), which is a permanent feature of climate. Drought in contrast is a recurrent, yet sporadic feature of climate, known to occur under all climatic regimes and is usually characterized by variability in terms of its spatial expanse, intensity and duration. What is universally accepted is that drought stems from a deficiency or erratic distribution in rainfall but the spread and intensity of the calamity is contingent on several factors, including the status of surface and ground water resources, agro-climatic features, cropping choices and patterns, socio-economic vulnerabilities of the local population etc. It is difficult to provide a precise and universally accepted definition of drought due to its complex nature and varying characteristics that manifest across different agro-climatic regions of the world in a myriad different ways. Drought, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), is defined as a ‘period of abnormally dry weather long enough to cause a serious hydrological imbalance’. (IPCC 2012:558) A World Health Organization (WHO) technical brief, describes drought as a ‘slow-onset’ phenomena caused by rainfall deficit and other factors that may result in ‘mass displacement of population.
  • 3. IMAGE : WATER SCARCITY. REUTERS
  • 4. Drought differs from other natural hazards such as cyclones, floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis in that: • There is no universally accepted definition that can encapsulate the complexity of this phenomenon adequately. • It is difficult to determine the beginning and end of a drought episode because of the slow, ‘creepy’ onset, silent spread and gradual withdrawal. In India, it is generally considered to be coterminous with the monsoons. • An episode could spill over months or even years with or without any accompanying shift in the geographical arena. • There is no indicator or index which can precisely forecast the advent and severity of a drought event, nor project its possible impacts. • Spatial expanse tends to be far greater than in the case of other natural calamities, which when compounded by the difficulties associated with the impact assessment of the disaster, makes effective response highly challenging. • Impacts are generally non-structural and difficult to quantify e.g. the damage to the ecology, the disruption of socio-economic fabric of communities, the long term effects of mal-nutrition on health and morbidity etc. • The impact tends to get magnified in the event of successive droughts.
  • 5. IMPACTS OF DROUGHT ECONOMIC: Production losses in agriculture and related sectors, especially animal husbandry, dairy, poultry, horticulture and fisheries. It affects livelihoods and quality of life for the majority of farmers, share croppers, farm labourers, artisans, small rural businesses and rural population in general that is dependent on agriculture. ENVIORNMENTAL: Low water levels in ground water and surface reservoirs, lakes and ponds, reduced flows in springs, streams and rivers, loss of forest cover, migration of wildlife and sharpening man-animal conflicts and general stress on biodiversity. SOCIAL: outmigration of the population from drought affected areas, rise in school dropout rates, greater immiseration and indebtedness, alienation of land and livestock assets, malnutrition, starvation and loss of social status among the most vulnerable sections.
  • 6. MONITORING AND EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS: Drought is a complex phenomenon characterized by slow onset. Careful monitoring of the symptoms of drought and early warning are key to effective management of the calamity. It is essential that along with a drought monitoring system, medium and long term area specific plans be prepared for drought proofing of susceptible areas. Institutional Structures: Central Drought Relief Commissioner (CDRC), Crop Weather Watch Group (CWWG), Drought Monitoring Centres (DMCs) Scientific & Support Organisations: India Meteorological Department (IMD), Mahalanobis National Crop Forecast Centre(MNCFC), Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation (MoWR, RD & GR), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), State Remote Sensing Application Centres (SRSACs). KEY VARIABLES FOR MONITORING DROUGHT Meteorological Data – Rainfall and other parameters like Temperature Wind speed and Relative Humidity Weather forecast - Short, medium, extended range Soil moisture Sown Area / Crop Health / Stress Satellite based Vegetation Groundwater Levels Stream Flow - Discharge Reservoir and Lake Storage
  • 8. MAHARASTRA DROUGHT 2013 • Due to the failure of monsoon rains in 2011, the Government of Maharashtra declared a drought in 7,753 villages in 15 districts of the state in October 2011. Monsoon rains in 2012 were also inadequate leading to further deterioration of the already desperate situation and adversely impacting crop productivity, water storage in the dams, reservoirs, ponds, and other drinking water sources along with fodder supplies. Indian agriculture is heavily dependent on the climate and a favourable southwest summer monsoon is critical in securing water for irrigating crops. Consequently, in January 2013 the State Government was forced to declare drought in 7,896 villages in Maharashtra.
  • 9. REASONS: • Geography:  One-third of the state falls under the semi-arid climatic zone and has its agriculture dependent on the monsoons. Deficient rainfall is reported once every 5 years and drought conditions occur once every 8-9 years As high as 80% to 84% of the agriculture in Maharashtra is rainfed, which means that it totally depends on rainfall for its crops but there is a huge variability in rainfall in different regions of the state. • Lack of planning, short sightedness and pure disregard shown for the situation at the policy level. • Focus on water-intensive crops like sugarcane for better and assured money :  Sugarcane is one of the most water-intensive crops grown in Maharashtra, requiring ten times more water than Jowar or nut. Ironically, the regions where it is grown the most are chronically drought hit regions, which have been receiving central aid for drought proofing though the Drought Proof Area Program and other such schemes. Sugarcane area under drip irrigation in these regions is dismally low. • Development of industries and cities have also put an additional load on water resources from dams.  Maharashtra has by far the largest number of Big Dam in India. In 1972, some of the big irrigation projects in the worst drought affected districts. In 40 years since 1972, Maharashtra has built a very large number of big dams, ostensibly to help these drought prone areas. • The drought is also mainly due to brazen ground water extraction. Although Maharashtra was the first to regulate ground water resources, poor implementation of the law has helped lead to the current.
  • 10. EFFECT OF THE DROUGHT ON PEOPLE, LIVESTOCK, FOOD PRODUCTION AND ENVIRONMENT: • Drying up of water storage tanks, ponds and wells along with depletion of water- table in drought hit areas; • 27% of cereal area not sown during 2012-13 i.E. Only 3,010,000 hectors against the normal sowing area of 4,134,000 hectors and 31% less against the target of 4,369,000 hectors; • Over 18.1% food grain production dropped to 10.4 million tonnes from 12.7 million tonnes; • Gross state domestic product for the last fiscal year dropped to 7.1% from estimated 8.5%; • Severe shortage of potable water; • Villages and hamlets are dependent on water supplies brought by tanker or bullock- carts, which are irregular and insufficient for the communities; • Severe shortage of fodder and water for animals, large number of livestock survival depends on the cattle camps across the state; • Distress sale of livestock and sending livestock to relatives in non affected regions; • No employment for the people dependent on agriculture and allied sectors and • Large scale migration of poor and marginalized to cities to find work.
  • 11. VILLAGE-LEVEL RESPONSES TO DROUGHT • At the local level, the Gram Panchayats in villages early on in August 2012, organized meetings and mobilized people to attract the attention of the government and external actors in terms of water tankers, new water supply schemes, and assistance in renovating old watershed development schemes or providing support for new schemes. • Frequent local meetings were held, declarations agreed upon, and the Sarpanches would mobilize politico-administrative channels in order to gain support from various external institutions and schemes (through the block level administration, political parties, and NGOs). • Some Sarpanches would engage to ensure water saving and more equal distribution of water. As the water level in farmers’ wells started dropping quickly (or they remained empty), the farmers reacted by saving water or prioritizing water to seed plots of cotton and other high-value crops. • The local drip irrigation systems were helpful especially for the sweet lime and seed farmers, but this was mostly among the medium- or large-scale farmers. • In order to meet local demands, the state and district government engaged in both short term relief measures and long-term drought risk management. The focus of attention by the government was first on responding to water scarcity in terms of drinking water, water and fodder for animals, and water for crops.
  • 12. GOVERNMENT RESPONSE : • In response to the 2012 drought, the government initiated a set of appropriate emergency and more long-term measures. • However, the scope and outreach of the relief was not adequate to meet local demands given the magnitude of impacts. The measures pursued were sometimes unevenly distributed. The emergency programmes also carried heavy costs on the part of the government. APPROPRIATE EMERGENCY AND MORE LONG-TERM MEASURES To provide drinking water Fodder camps Crop-loss compensation Watershed development Local employment(MGNREGS)
  • 13. GOVERENMENT RESPONSE: • Both the government of Maharashtra and the government of India have made several attempts to bring forward an overall or better coordinated drought risk management strategy. At the national level, there is the national action plan on climate change (released in 2008) which has instituted eight national missions to further climate change adaptation, mitigation, energy efficiency, and natural resources conservation (with sustainable agriculture and integrated water resources management). • A crisis management plan for drought (2012) was issued by the government of india, with many critical elements for the management of a drought. • There is also the contingency and compensatory agriculture plans for droughts and floods in india (2012) published by the planning commission. The government of maharashtra has summarized experiences from past droughts, especially the 2002–04 droughts, and compiled these in several policy-oriented memorandums to the government. • The government mobilized schemes to meet demand of specific villages for more permanent water supply schemes. Both during and post-drought, the government engaged in de-silting of water reservoirs and local watershed check-dams and smaller streams, reflecting that many of these structures over time had been mismanaged and silted up.
  • 14. • Crop compensation losses schemes were also launched on a large scale. While farmers greatly appreciated these schemes, due to many having production losses of more than 50 per cent against normal years, they also complained about the way crop losses were estimated, low maximum compensation (per hectare) and late payments. • There are many imperfections in the governance relief response system compared to local demands, which are also not surprising given the severity of the 2012 drought and the scale of impacts. For example, there were problems in terms of outreach to diverse social groups and villages and timeliness in support (e.g., late payment for MGNREGS labour and delayed efforts to rescue sweet lime orchards). • The extensive emergency system in Maharashtra comes with a substantial financial and administrative burden on the government. The total expenditures of the Government of Maharashtra to the drought damages and relief in 2012 are likely to amount to more than the total annual allocation to agriculture, irrigation, and rural development .
  • 15. State says 59.9% rainfall, IMD says 73%: Highlights and discrepancies of Maharashtra’s Monsoon There is definitely a need to streamline and improve monsoon rainfall reporting. This is especially important at a time when policies, drought assistance, insurance payment to farmers and water allocation decisions are heavily dependent on rainfall figures. As many as 3,228 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra in 2015, the highest since 2001, according to data tabled in the Rajya Sabha on March 4, 2016 – that is almost nine farmers every day. How water inequality governs drought-hit Maharashtra A resident of Pune, Maharashtra’s second-most developed city, uses five times as much water as her counterpart in Latur, the district most ravaged by drought in the south- central Marathwada region. 10,000 Litres For Helipad As Minister Visits Drought-Hit Maharashtra: Activist Bhiwandi: In Maharashtra, which is battling severe drought, 10,000 litres of water was used in preparing a make-shift helipad for a union minister's chopper, a BJP activist has alleged in a letter to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. NEWS RELATED TO MAHARASTRA DROUGHT:
  • 16. CONCLUSION • Frequent droughts are known to have widespread, long term and devastating social and environmental effects. Less visible to policy makers the debilitating effects of drought are most often absorbed by the poorest communities and the agricultural sector. • No prior drought emergency action plan existed at district level prior to the 2012 drought. There was also no real drought early warning system at this level, although the situation was monitored closely from the District Collector’s office, as well as from GOM centrally. In fact, IMD had suggested ‘normal’ monsoons in their forecast. • Water shortage in Maharashtra State is a major problem. Different parts of the state face water scarcity almost every year and the situation is exacerbated during drought years. To cope up with the problem of household drinking water scarcity the option of modern rainwater harvesting technologies and groundwater recharge should be promoted. In the case of agriculture, a detailed crop and rainwater management plan should be developed for the rain-fed regions of India. It is crucial that these plans quantify and account for uncertainties associated with climate variability and climate change. Use of organic manure in farm (for example, composting and recovery of farm yard manure and food waste, use of green mulching, etc.) can favorably modify the physical properties of soil.
  • 17. Overall, from a drought risk management perspective, it is critical that the short-term drought relief planning and investments become better integrated with the long-term adaptation agenda and sector development programmes. The inclusion of watershed development as a focal area for MGNREGS is interesting both from an integrated environment/climate change protection program and from a social perspective. Greater impacts on local watershed development and farming systems and thus community-based resilience can be achieved if the central government ensures improved policy and programme integration and greater transfer of capacity and powers to the district and local level levels for coordination and convergence of climate services, water governance and development programs.
  • 18. REFERENCES • Drought in Jalna Community-based Adaptation to Extreme Climate Events in Maharashtra Trond Vedeld, Guro Aandahl, Line Barkved, Ulka Kelkar, Karianne de Bruin, Prutha Lanjekar/© The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research (NIBR), 2014 • Manual for drought management/ Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Government of India New Delhi/2016 • http://indiatogether.org/drought-agriculture--2 • https://www.indiawaterportal.org/articles/droughts-maharashtra-lack-management-or-vagaries-climate- change • IND131 – Maharashtra Drought Relief & Rehab 5 situation. • Drought Impacts and Adaptation Strategies for Agriculture and Rural Livelihood in the Maharashtra State of India Parmeshwar D. Udmale, Yutaka Ichikawa , Anthony S. Kiem and Sudhindra N. Panda /The Open Agriculture Journal, 2014, 8, 41-47 • https://sandrp.in/tag/maharashtra-drought/page/3/ • http://www.businessworld.in/article/9-Farmers-Commit-Suicide-Daily-In-Drought-Hit-Maharashtra/06-04- 2016-95415/’ • https://www.rediff.com/business/special/special-how-water-inequality-governs-drought-hit- maharashtra/20160601.htm • https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/10-000-litres-for-helipad-as-minister-visits-drought-hit-maharashtra- activist-1397535