Drought in Maharashtra: Causes, Impacts, Management and Government Measures

Subject: GS Paper 3: Agriculture

Context: Maharashtra declared drought in 265 of 358 tehsils, nearly three-fourths of the state, despite the state’s overall rainfall deficit being 18%, compared with 13% nationally. 

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About Drought

• Drought is a prolonged period of abnormally low precipitation that leads to a shortage of water for agriculture, ecosystems, and human activities. 
• Types Of Drought
  • Meteorological Drought: Rainfall is significantly below the normal level for a given region and period. 
  • Agricultural Drought: Occurs when soil moisture becomes inadequate for crop growth. Leads to crop stress, reduced yields and crop failure.
  • Hydrological Drought: Occurs when water levels in rivers, reservoirs, lakes and groundwater decline significantly.
  • Socio-economic Drought: Occurs when water scarcity affects the supply of goods and services, such as food, drinking water, energy and industrial production.
  • Ecological Drought: Occurs when water shortages exceed the resilience of ecosystems, affecting vegetation, wildlife and ecosystem functions.

Causes of Drought

• Natural Causes
  • Deficient rainfall: Failure or irregularity of monsoon rainfall is the major cause in India.
  • Delayed/early withdrawal of monsoon: Reduces the effective rainy season.
  • El Niño: Abnormal warming of the central and eastern tropical Pacific can weaken the Indian Southwest Monsoon, increasing the likelihood of rainfall deficiency and drought conditions in India. It can weaken the Indian summer monsoon and increase drought risk. However, the relationship is not deterministic, Not every El Niño year results in drought
  • Persistent high temperatures: Increase evaporation and evapotranspiration, reducing available soil moisture.
  • Changes in atmospheric circulation: Alter rainfall distribution and intensity.
  • Climate variability: Changes in rainfall patterns can increase the frequency or severity of dry spells.
• Human-Induced Factors
  • Deforestation: Reduces vegetation cover and affects the local water cycle.
  • Groundwater over-extraction: Depletes water reserves, particularly in irrigation-intensive regions.
  • Unsustainable irrigation: Can cause groundwater depletion and soil degradation.
  • Poor watershed management: Increases surface runoff and reduces groundwater recharge.
  • Land degradation: Reduces the land’s ability to retain water.
  • Rapid urbanisation: Increases impervious surfaces and reduces groundwater recharge.

Effects Of Drought

• Agricultural Impact: Crop failure and reduced yields due to inadequate rainfall and soil moisture.
  • Livestock losses due to shortage of water and fodder.
  • Decline in farm incomes and increased dependence on credit.
• Water Scarcity: Declining groundwater and surface-water levels, affecting rivers, reservoirs and lakes.
  • Shortage of drinking and irrigation water.
  • Increased dependence on groundwater extraction.
• Economic Impact: Food-price inflation due to reduced agricultural production.
  • Loss of rural employment and income.
  • Increased government expenditure on drought relief and water supply.
• Social Impact: Food insecurity and malnutrition among vulnerable populations.
  • Distress migration due to loss of livelihoods.
  • Increased competition over scarce water resources.
• Environmental Impact: Soil degradation and loss of vegetation.
  • Biodiversity and ecosystem stress.
  • Increased risk of forest fires and desertification.

About the Drought Management Code, 2016

• The Manual for Drought Management, 2016 was issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare to provide a framework for assessing, declaring and managing droughts in India. 
• Key Features: 
  • Provides a standardised framework for drought assessment.
  • Helps States determine whether a situation qualifies as a drought.
  • Uses multiple indicators rather than relying only on rainfall.
• Four Broad Indicators
  • Rainfall Deficiency: Assesses rainfall deficiency and its spatial/temporal distribution.
  • Vegetation Health: Uses satellite-based indicators to assess vegetation stress.
  • Soil Moisture: Assesses the availability of moisture in the soil for crop growth.
  • Hydrological Indicators: Considers indicators such as reservoir storage and groundwater conditions.
• Declaration Of Drought: The State Government is primarily responsible for declaring drought in an area based on the prescribed indicators and assessment framework.

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Drought Vs Desertification

Reasons Behind Drought In Maharashtra

• Regional Variation In Rainfall: The Western Ghats receive high rainfall, while areas east of the Ghats lie in the rain-shadow region. 
  • In 2026, Marathwada recorded a 38% rainfall deficit and Vidarbha 27%, making them the worst-affected regions. 
  • Solapur, Dharashiv, Latur, Hingoli, Jalna, Beed and parts of Nanded received only around 50% of normal rainfall. 
  • In contrast, Nashik recorded 37% excess rainfall, highlighting the sharp intra-state variation.
• Rainfall Variability and Dry Spells: Delayed monsoon, prolonged dry spells and early withdrawal can significantly reduce soil moisture and water availability.
• High Dependence On Monsoon: Large areas depend on rain-fed agriculture, making crop production highly vulnerable to monsoon variability.
• Groundwater Stress: Repeated poor monsoons and intensive groundwater extraction for irrigation can reduce groundwater availability.
• Water-Intensive Crops: Cultivation of sugarcane in drought-prone areas increases pressure on limited water resources.

Impact of Drought On Agriculture

• Kharif Crop Losses: Moisture stress may reduce soybean yields to 40–50% of normal in Marathwada and 60–70% in Vidarbha, affecting farm incomes.
• Crop-Specific Vulnerability: Long-duration arhar/tur (160–180 days) is vulnerable to terminal moisture stress during flowering and pod-filling stages.
• Rabi Sowing Risk: Low residual soil moisture and depleted reservoirs and borewells may constrain the sowing of chana and jowar.
• Livestock Stress: Shortage of water and fodder can reduce livestock productivity and increase losses.
• Food Inflation: Lower pulse production can put upward pressure on arhar and chana prices; arhar prices have reached ₹9,000–9,200/quintal, above the MSP of ₹8,450.
• Water Security: Reduced rainfall limits reservoir storage and groundwater recharge, increasing pressure on irrigation resources.

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Way Forward

• Strengthen Drought Early-Warning Systems: Integrate IMD rainfall forecasts, soil-moisture data, satellite-based vegetation indices and groundwater levels for timely drought alerts.
• Promote Watershed Development: Expand check dams, farm ponds, contour bunding, percolation tanks and watershed treatment to improve water retention and groundwater recharge.
• Improve Groundwater Management: Regulate over-extraction, promote aquifer mapping and encourage community-based groundwater budgeting.
• Expand Micro-Irrigation: Increase adoption of drip and sprinkler irrigation to improve water-use efficiency, particularly in water-stressed regions.
• Crop Diversification: Shift from water-intensive crops such as sugarcane towards millets, pulses, oilseeds and drought-resistant/short-duration varieties based on local agro-climatic conditions.
• Strengthen Climate-Resilient Agriculture: Promote drought-tolerant seeds, soil-moisture conservation, mulching and climate-smart farming practices.
• Adopt Region-Specific Planning: Drought management should account for local rainfall patterns, cropping systems, groundwater availability and ecological conditions, rather than relying only on state-level rainfall averages.

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