Drought is defined as a period with a water deficit, either on the surface or underground, and can last from months to years. Drought is caused by a lack of moisture in the atmosphere from high pressure systems, and can be exacerbated by deforestation. There are three types of drought: meteorological, occurring when rainfall is below average; hydrological, a depletion of surface water; and agricultural, a lack of soil moisture impacting crop yields. Drought has short and long term economic, environmental, and social consequences. India has a long history of drought policies aimed at relief, development of information systems, and improving rural resources, but more sustainable long term strategies are still needed.

1. DROUGHT
E. Grace Selvarani

2. What is a Drought?
Drought is defined as a
period in which a region
has a deficit in its water
supply whether surface or
underground water. It can
last for months or years, or
even days….. though
droughts can persist for
several years, even a
short, intense drought can
cause significant damage
and harm to the local
economy.

3. Causes
Drought can be caused by a number of
factors. The most important one though
relates to the amount of water vapor in the
atmosphere as this is what creates
precipitation. If there is an above average
presence of dry, high pressure air systems
instead, less moisture is available to
produce precipitation. Even, deforestation
for agriculture and/or building combined
with the resultant erosion can also cause
drought to begin because as soil is moved
away from an area it is less able to absorb
moisture when it falls.

4. Droughts can be of three
kinds
•Meteorological drought
•Hydrological drought
•Agricultural drought

5. Meteorological drought
This happens when the actual
rainfall in an area is significantly
less than the climatological mean of
that area. The country as a whole
may have a normal monsoon, but
different meteorological districts
and sub-divisions can have below
normal rainfall. The rainfall
categories for smaller areas are
defined by their deviation from a
meteorological area's normal
rainfall.

6. Hydrological drought
A marked depletion of
surface water causing
very low stream flow
and drying of
lakes, rivers and
reservoirs.

7. Agricultural drought
Inadequate soil moisture
resulting in acute crop
stress and fall in
agricultural productivity.

8. Consequences of Drought
There are short and long term consequences with
any drought because of nature and society's
dependence on water. Problems associated with
drought can have economic, environmental, and
social impacts on both the areas where they
occur and areas that have relations with those
where the drought happens.

9. Impacts of Drought
•Economic impact(agriculture and the income generated
from crops in short term and unemployment of farmers
and even retailers can occur at long term)
•Environmental impact(insect infestations and plant
diseases, increased erosion, habitat and landscape
degradation in short term and plant and animal species can
suffer tremendously, and over time desertification can
happen with an extreme lack of moisture at long term)
•Social impact(disputes between users of available
water, inequalities in water distribution between wealthy
and poor, disparities in areas in need of disaster relief, and
a decline in health)

10. Policies
History of drought policy is very old in India. Muhammad
Tughlakh was perhaps the first Sultan to take systematic
steps to alleviate the effects of droughts. He distributed
grains to people in Delhi for six months during the famine
of 1343 A.D. He also gave loans to farmers and started
relief works to provide employment to affected people.
Mughal emperors were much better in this matter. They
provided grains to people even outside Delhi, in
Gujarat, Rajasthan and Malwas and started relief works for
the poor. They also revised land revenue, increased
recruitment in army and promoted deepening of ponds and
digging of wells during famines.

11. Policies
Drought Management Strategies Adopted in
2012 was based on, “This is clearly a
realization of ground reality which needs to
be reflected in a long term drought area
developmental policy in India. The current
approaches aims at reducing the short term
impact of drought by providing relief
measures”. A statement made at a SubRegional Seminar on Drought Mitigation on
28-29th August, 2001 in Tehran .

12. Policies
Few drought Management Strategies Adopted in 2012
Desirable features of drought weather codes of a sustainable
framework are:
• Complete revision of existing drought relief manual
• Development of a well network of information management
system- through GIS (Geographical Information System)
techniques.
• Improvements in rural banking system of
human, livestock, water resources, fee/food/fodder
supplies, natural resources especially seed banks.
• Billions of rupees are spent for drought mitigation in most of
the years. This expenditure should lead significantly towards
drought adaptations, mitigation/ moderation and reduce
vulnerability (poverty) in the future.

13. A cartoon depicting India's drought
management policies on April 2013

14. References
•Contingency and Compensatory Agriculture Plans for
Droughts and Floods in India- 2012 by National Rainfed
Area Authority Planning Commission, Government of
India, New Delhi
•Multiple Impacts of Droughts and Assessment of
Drought Policy in Major Drought Prone States in India by
Anil Kumar Roy& Indira Hirway
•Dictionary of geography
•http://geography.about.com

15. Thank you…