Natural Disasters: Floods, Droughts, and Landslides Impacting Communities

Floods, No Rain, and landslides are natural disasters that profoundly impact landscapes and communities. Floods occur when water exceeds normal levels, inundating areas, a long period without rain signifies prolonged water scarcity, affecting agriculture and ecosystems, and landslides involve the downward movement of rock and soil, posing threats to settlements. These events, driven by various environmental factors, demand comprehensive strategies for mitigation and management.

No Rain in India: Types, Impact, and Strategic Solutions

• It refers to the absence of water for a long period of time, at a place 

Types of Droughts: Meteorological, Agricultural, Hydrological, Ecological Challenges

• Meteorological Drought: It is a situation when there is a prolonged period of inadequate rainfall marked with mal-distribution of the same over time and space.

• Agricultural Drought: Agricultural no rain and Soil Moisture Challenges
  • It is also known as soil moisture, a long period without rain, characterised by low soil moisture that is necessary to support the crops, thereby resulting in crop failures. 
  • Moreover, if an area has more than 30 percent of its gross cropped area under irrigation, the area is excluded from the no rain-prone category.
• Hydrological Drought : Water Scarcity in Storages and Reservoirs
  • Availability of water in different storages and reservoirs like aquifers, lakes, reservoirs, etc. falls below what the precipitation can replenish.
• Ecological Drought : When the productivity of a natural ecosystem fails due to a shortage of water and as a consequence of ecological distress, damages are induced in the ecosystem.

Drought Prone Areas

Drought Area in India: Regional Severity and Geographical Distribution

• Extent of Geographical Area and Population Affected: Nearly 19 per cent of the total geographical area of the country and 12 percent of its total population suffer due to a long period without rain every year.
• On the basis of the severity of a long period without rain, India can be divided into the following regions:
  • Extreme No Rain Affected Areas : most parts of Rajasthan, particularly areas to the west of the Aravali hills, i.e. Marusthali and Kachchh regions of Gujarat fall in this category. 
  • Severe No Rain Zones in India: Eastern Rajasthan to Interior Odisha
    • Parts of eastern Rajasthan, most parts of Madhya Pradesh, eastern parts of Maharashtra,
    • Interior parts of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka Plateau, northern parts of interior Tamil Nadu and southern parts of Jharkhand and interior Odisha are included in this category.
  • Moderate Drought Impact: Northern Rajasthan to Southern Karnataka
    • Northern parts of Rajasthan, Haryana, southern districts of Uttar Pradesh, 
    • The remaining parts of Gujarat, Maharashtra except Konkan, Jharkhand and Coimbatore plateau of Tamil Nadu and interior Karnataka are included in this category. 

Consequences of Drought: Crop Failure, Livestock Loss, Migration, Health Risks

• Agricultural Ramifications of No Rain: Crop failure leading to scarcity of food grains (akal), and fodder (trinkal). 
• Loss of Animals: Large-scale death of cattle and other animals.
• Migration: Human and livestock migration resulting from a long period without rain conditions.
• Health Hazards: Scarcity of water compels people to consume contaminated water resulting in the spread of many waterborne diseases like gastroenteritis, cholera, hepatitis, etc.

Drought Management: Immediate Steps for Water, Medicine, and Safety

No Rain has both immediate as well as long-term disastrous consequences on the social and physical environments. Thus, planning for a long period without rain has to take both aspects into consideration.

Immediate measures:

• Provision for the distribution of safe drinking water.
• Medicines for the victims
• Availability of fodder and water for the cattle.
• Shifting of the people and their livestock to safer places. 

Long-term measures: Groundwater, River Linking, and More

• Identification of groundwater potential in the form of aquifers.
• Transfer of river water from the surplus to the deficit areas.
• Planning for inter-linking of rivers.
• Construction of reservoirs and dams.
• Remote sensing and satellite imagery can be useful in identifying the possible river basins that can be interlinked and in identifying the groundwater potential.
• Dissemination of knowledge about a long period without rain-resistant crops and proper training to farmers. 
• Rainwater harvesting can be an effective method in minimising the effects of a long period without rain.

DOWNLOAD PDF