The Maharashtra government acknowledged on Monday, November 6, that many sections of the state have received less than usual rainfall. The Union government is tasked with managing the drought situation across the country. Hence, the Relief and Rehabilitation Department has started the process of declaring a drought for the Kharif season of 2023 in Maharashtra. The government's clarification comes in response to opposition parties' accusations of 'political bias' in drought declarations.
The drought declarations are based on the necessary index and effect index components outlined in the Union government's 'Drought Management Manual (2016). ' To declare "drought," there are some indicators that are based on scientific factors. The survey for these indicators was conducted by the Maharashtra Remote Sensing Application Centre (MRSAC), Nagpur. No human opinion is taken into account.
The criteria addressed between June and September include shortage of rainfall, shortage of available groundwater, vegetation index, soil moisture, area under sowing, and crop status. Hence, on October 30, the government declared drought in at least 40 talukas across the state for the Kharif season in 2023.
The state administration has declared drought at a severe level in 24 and moderate in 16 talukas of the state's 15 districts. This takes into account the probability of calamity in talukas caused by the lack of rain.
The state cabinet has instructed the minister of relief, rehabilitation, and disaster management to call a meeting of the subcommittee right away to assess the amount of rainfall that has not been sufficient in the surrounding talukas.
Based on this assessment, the minister will decide whether to declare a drought-like situation after carefully considering all relevant factors that could aid in providing these hamlets with various facilities.
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