• Drought is a natural hazard that differs from other hazards as it has a

slow onset, evolves over months or even years and affects small
pockets to a large regional expanse.
• The Indian Situation
• The traditional approach to drought as a phenomenon of arid and semi-arid areas is
changing in India too.
• Now, even regions with high rainfall, often face severe water scarcities.
• Cherrapunji in Meghalaya, one of the world’s highest rainfall areas, with over 11,000 mm
of rainfall, now faces drought for almost nine months of the year.
• On the other hand, the western part of Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan, one of the driest
parts of the country, is recording around 9 cm of rainfall in a year.
• Total rainfall increases generally eastwards and with height.
• Increase in precipitation is high at an elevation of around 1,500 metres in the Himalaya
Mountains.
• With average annual rainfall ranging between 20 cm to over 1000 cm, the primary
challenge is to store this precious water for the dry season that may follow.
• The droughts in Odisha State, which has an average rainfall of 1100
mm, remain a matter for continuing concern.
• Conditions of water scarcity in the Himalayan region are also not
uncommon.
• Thus, drought is just not the scarcity or lack of rainfall, but an issue
related to water resource management
• It is critical to understand this hazard and its incidence across space
and over time to establish comprehensive and integrated drought
early warning systems that incorporate climate, soil and water supply
factors such as precipitation, temperature, soil moisture, snow pack,
reservoir and lake levels, ground water levels, and stream flows.
• Classification of drought

• Drought results from a long continued dry weather and/or insufficient

rain, which causes loss of soil moisture, depletion of underground
water supply and reduction of stream flow.
• The National Commission on Agriculture in India defines three types
of droughts: meteorological, agricultural and hydrological.
• Meteorological drought is defined as a situation when there is significant
decrease from normal precipitation over an area (i.e. more than 10 %).
• Hydrological drought results from prolonged meteorological drought
manifested in depletion of surface and subsurface water resources. It must
be noted that hydrological drought could occur even when the rainfall is
normal, if there has been a substantial reduction in surface water holding
capacity.
• Agricultural drought is a situation when soil moisture and rainfall are
inadequate to support healthy crop growth.
• Drought proofing measures are taken before the crop is planted such as
Improving Water Holding Capacity (WHC) of soil through organics/silt, land
configurations etc.
A drought year; when annual rainfall is deficient by 20 % of normal or
more, and
Severe drought year; when annual rainfall is deficient by 25-40% of
normal or more.
Impact of Drought
• The direct impact of drought is generally classified under four categories, viz. physical, social,
economic and environmental.
• The relative and absolute magnitudes of each impact will however, depend on specific regional
characteristics.
• Droughts cause a loss of assets in crops, livestock and productive capital as these are immediate
consequences of water shortage.
• In the industrial sector, agro-based industries are directly affected. Lower domestic production of
agriculture based inputs for agroprocessing units reduces non-agricultural production and
employment opportunities.
• Availability of water for domestic consumption also diminishes.
• This has implications for health and household activities, including substantial increase in the
time spent on collecting water. As water becomes scarce, competition among and within sectors
usually increases.
• Droughts have other important implications for government policies, as it reduces tax revenues
through declines in income, employment and exports
• On the expenditure side, the government is faced with increased expenditure on
relief, social welfare, health and water supplies, consumption-related subsidies
on food distribution, and the logistical costs of droughtrelated imports.
• The law and order structure is put under greater pressure by a rise in crime, in
turn associated with temporary unemployment, migration and increased
destitution .
• Generally, the secondary impact is on regional inequality, employment, trade
deficits, external debt and inflation.
• The micro level impact at village and household levels, are equally important.
• Drought may result in a considerable intensification of household food insecurity,
water related health risks and loss of livelihoods in the agricultural sector.
Current Challenges In Drought Management
:
Prevention, Preparedness& Mitigation
• Prevention and Preparedness
• Drought prevention and preparedness involve water supply
augmentation and conservation (e.g. rainwater harvesting
techniques), expansion of irrigation facilities, effective dealing with
drought, and public awareness and education.
• Drought Prone Area Delineation (Block/Mandal) Criteria and data
• i. Rainfall (long term average - 30 to 50 yrs) (Short Term average – 5 to 10 yrs for
giving real picture as rainfall pattern may change over the period for e.g.
Cherapunji);
• ii. Cropping pattern (past 3 to 5 yrs);
• iii. Available supplement irrigation (well, tank, ponds, ground water etc.);
• iv. Satellite derived indicators (last 10 years);
• v. Soil map; vi. Ground water availability map;
• vii. Cattle population and fodder demand;
• viii. Socio economic data;
• ix. Other water demands like for drinking, industrial use etc.;
• Collection and creation of data base and spatial framework for analysis
• Gradation of Drought Prone Areas (High, Moderate, Low):
• Areas should also be graded on the basis of degree of drought
proneness since it would affect the steps required for greater
preparedness.
• This would require multiple criteria approach that includes
• i. Sensitivity to Rainfall Variation;
• ii. Frequency of Occurrence of Drought; and
• iii. Vulnerability of Community (people and livestock) to Drought
• Monitoring of Drought Having delineated drought prone areas and
their gradation one could move on to the criteria for monitoring
relevant indicators.

• The monitoring indicators will be:

• i. Rainfall and other associated weather parameters;
• ii. Crop health (based on satellite derived NDVI and field reports);
• iii. Available ground water (variation in ground water table) and
surface water resources; and
• iv. Migration and impact on community;
• Observational Network For such monitoring one would require
reasonably dense observational network.
• i. Automatic weather station (25 km X 25 km);
• ii. Automatic rain-gauge (5 km X 5 km);
• iii. Ground water table observation (5 km X 5 km in hard rock region
and 10 km X 10 km in alluvial plains);
• iv. Field report from block / mandal level; and
• v. Satellite data of 50 m X 50 m resolution
• Medium Range Weather Forecasting for Community Level Advisory
Numerical weather prediction has emerged as one of the important
discipline requiring increasing computing power.
• To have accurate timely forecasts, state-of-art computers are used all over
the world.
• Currently forecasting in India suffers from following constraints:
• i. The information is too general in terms of space and time while
forecasting needs are at local level;
• ii. The timing does not match user needs;
• iii. Information received from different sources transmit conflicting
messages; and
• iv. The language is not clearly understood by users.
• Judicious use of surface and groundwater

• Immediate steps are needed to make efficient use of available surface

and groundwater in drought prone areas - resorting to drip and
sprinkler practices wherever possible, particularly for commercial
crops including fruit orchards.
• Construction of water shed structures at the right place where water
recharge can be enhanced will be used for life saving irrigation at
critical stages of crop growth and during drought situations.
Micro Irrigation Systems
• i. promote cultivation of crops under crop diversification through
sprinklers/drip irrigation systems;
• ii. promote protective irrigation through micro irrigation systems
through incentives
• Post Harvest Management
• In the absence or lack of proper pre and post harvest crop management the
impact of drought gets compounded.
• The strategy of procurement, storage and distribution of food grains entail
multiple benefits to the society.
• Food security has always been the biggest concern of the mankind and is a prime
agenda for the developing world including India.
• Thus there is an urgent need for more scientific and targeted management of the
agricultural and food sector.
• Inadequate storage facilities incapacitate the governments in procurement and
distribution.
• Substantial improvements in storage facilities and prevention of post harvest
losses should therefore be the crucial elements in meeting the challenges.
• Nutritional Aspects of Food Security

• The nutritional aspects of food security will be addressed by the

Government through schemes like the Integrated Child Development
Service (ICDS) and Mid-Day Meal scheme. The ICDS is implemented
for pre-school children, while Mid-Day Meal has recently been
introduced for school-going children. Since school dropout rate is high
in drought affected areas, ICDS and Mid-Day Meal Scheme will be
expanded to cover children out of school.
• Water Conservation, Storage Structures and Management
• Water conservation and management measures have to be prioritized during droughts.
• In areas facing successive hydrological droughts, regulatory measures to desist from cultivating heavy
duty crops may be considered.
• Closing of the sluice gates of minor irrigation tanks and conserving water to provide drinking water to
the livestock needs consideration in case of hydrological droughts.
• Water User Groups have to be promoted and water conservation measures have to be taken up
through consultative approach.
• Water management has to be practiced through decision support information obtained from
hydrological models.
• Water budgeting models have to be developed at watershed level and community at the PRI has to be
provided with information on availability, demands and management/conservation options for
practicing appropriate measures based on the degree and intensity of prevailing drought situation.
• The monitoring of the efficacy of the watershed treatments through pre and post treatment satellite
imageries needs to be taken up
• Afforestation with Bio-diesel species

• Afforestation with subabul, seemaruba, casurina, eucalyptus and bio

diesel plantation like jetropha and pongomia will be encouraged.
• Crop Insurance

• An important instrument to combat the adverse financial impact of

droughts on the farmers is agricultural insurance.
• Vulnerability to Floods

• Floods have been a recurrent phenomenon in India and cause huge losses to lives, properties, livelihood systems, infrastructure
and public utilities.
• India’s high risk and vulnerability is highlighted by the fact that 40 million hectares out of a geographical area of 3290 lakh
hectares is prone to floods.
• On an average every year, 75 lakh hectares of land is affected, 1600 lives are lost and the damage caused to crops, houses and
public utilities is Rs. 1805 crores due to floods.
• The maximum number of lives (11,316) were lost in the year 1977.
• The frequency of major floods is more than once in five years.
• Floods have also occurred in areas, which were earlier not considered flood prone.
• Eighty per cent of the precipitation takes place in the monsoon months from June to September.
• The rivers bring heavy sediment load from the catchments.
• These, coupled with inadequate carrying capacity of the rivers are responsible for causing floods, drainage congestion and erosion
of river-banks.
• Cyclones, cyclonic circulations and cloud bursts cause flash floods and lead to huge losses.
• The fact that some of the rivers causing damage in India originate in neighboring countries, adds another complex dimension to
the problem.
• Continuing and largescale loss of lives and damage to public and private property due to floods indicate that we are still to develop
an effective response to floods.
Causes of Floods
• Inadequate capacity of the rivers to contain within their banks the high flows brought
down from the upper catchment areas following heavy rainfall, leads to flooding.
• The tendency to occupy the flood plains has been a serious concern over the years.
Because of the varying rainfall distribution, many a time, areas which are not traditionally
prone to floods also experience severe inundation.
• Areas with poor drainage facilities get flooded by accumulation of water from heavy
rainfall.
• Excess irrigation water applied to command areas and increase in ground water levels
due to seepage from canals and irrigated fields also are factors that accentuate the
problem of water-logging.
• The problem is exacerbated by factors such as silting of the riverbeds, reduction in the
carrying capacity of river channels, erosion of beds and banks leading to changes in river
courses, obstructions to flow due to landslides, synchronisation of floods in the main and
tributary rivers and retardation due to tidal effects.
• Structural Measures for Flood Management
• Embankments/Banks, Flood Walls, Flood Levees
• The embankment system in the river restricts the river to its existing course and
prevents it from overflowing the banks.
• Embankments are constructed generally with earth easily available from nearby
areas. In developed areas where adequate space is not available or land is very
expensive, concrete or masonry floodwalls are constructed. Embankments
(including ringbunds and town-protection works) are the most popular method of
flood protection and have been constructed extensively in the past.
• Embankments are designed and constructed to afford a degree of protection
against floods of a certain frequency and intensity or against the maximum
recorded flood depending upon the location protected and their economic
justification.
• Dams, Reservoirs and other Water Storages Lakes, low lying
depressions, tanks, dams and reservoirs store significant proportions
of flood water and the stored water can be released subsequently
when the flood has receded.
• The stored water can also be used subsequently for irrigation, power
generation, and meeting industrial and drinking water needs.
• In the case of large multipurpose reservoirs, a proper reservoir
regulation schedule can be worked out for optimum benefit from the
project as a whole.
• Keeping the importance of these measures in view, a separate
chapter has been devoted to these works.
• Channel Improvement
• A channel can be made to carry flood discharge at levels lower than
its prevailing high flood level by improving its discharge carrying
capacity. Channel improvement aims at increasing the area of flow or
the velocity of flow (or both) to increase its carrying capacity.
• Drainage Improvement
• Surface water drainage congestion due to inadequacy of natural or
manmade drainage channels results in flooding in many areas. In such
cases constructing new channels and/or improving the capacity of
existing channels constitute an effective means of flood control.
• Diversion of Flood Water
• Diverting all or a part of the discharge into a natural or artificially
constructed channel, lying within or in some cases outside the flood
plains is a useful means of lowering water levels in the river.
• The diverted water may be taken away from the river without
returning it further downstream or it may be returned to the river
some distance downstream or to a lake or to the sea.
• This measure can be used successfully to prevent flooding around
cities. The flood spill channel skirting Srinagar city and the
supplementary drain in Delhi are examples of diverting excess water
to prevent flooding of the urbanised areas
• Catchment Area Treatment/Afforestation
• Watershed management measures such as developing the vegetative
cover i.e. afforestation and conservation of soil cover in conjunction
with structural works like check dams, detention basins etc. serve as
an effective measure in reducing flood peaks and controlling the
suddenness of the runoff.
• This, however is not very effective during a large flood although, it
does help in reducing the siltation of reservoirs and to some extent,
silt load in the rivers as well.
• Anti-erosion Works Alluvial rivers are usually meandering in nature
and, therefore, raise problems of erosion and silting at various
locations.
• This is a natural phenomenon and results in loss of land at one
location and gain at some other.
• Generally, there is a tendency of the meander to shift progressively
downstream.
• The process of bank erosion is, therefore, consistently active and
measures for protection of banks are a recurring necessity
• Sea Walls/Coastal Protection Works
• The erosion of land by the sea waves in coastal areas is a serious
problem. Sea walls/coastal protection works in the form of groynes
etc. are constructed to prevent flooding erosion in coastal areas by
sea water.
• Alignment, Location, Design and Provision of Waterway i.e. Vents,
Culverts, Bridges and Causeways in National Highways, State Highways,
District and Other Roads and Railways Embankments.
• Roads and railway embankments cut across the drainage lines and may
lead to increase in vulnerability of the area, through which they pass, to
flooding and drainage congestion, if they are not properly aligned, located
and designed.
• Inadequate waterway in the form of vents/culverts/ bridges/causeways is
another cause of increase in vulnerability to floods.
• Further, breaches in them may result in huge loss of life and properties.
• Insufficient height of embankments may result in overtopping and
breaches.
• Inspection, Rehabilitation and Maintenance
• Structural works require a periodic and systematic inspection,
rehabilitation and maintenance programme to ensure that the design
capabilities are maintained.
• For example, embankments and levees may be subjected to
weakening due to erosion during a flood event and during post-flood
period by the action of burrowing animals, or the construction of
utility lines such as water and gas pipelines, power cables etc. Of
particular importance is an inspection programme and
restoration/strengthening of vulnerable spots.
• Non-Structural Measures

• Non-Structural Measures
• Non-structural measures strive to keep people away from flood
waters. It contemplates the use of flood plains judiciously,
simultaneously permitting vacating of the same for use by the river
whenever the situation demands.
• This technique allows the use of flood plains by reducing the disaster
dimension, while retaining its beneficial effects.
• Flood Plain Zoning
• It is natural for a river to overflow its banks in the event of heavy rainfall in its
upper catchments and spill into the flood plains, which are basically its domain.
• Extensive and often unplanned use of flood plains by man disregarding the basic
fact that it is part and parcel of the river leads to damage.
• This is one of the main factors responsible for the flood damage reported from
different parts of the country in spite of substantial investments in the flood
sector.
• The basic concept of flood plain zoning is to regulate land use in the flood plains
in order to restrict the damage due to floods, while deriving maximum benefits
from the same.
• Keeping its importance in view, this has been dealt with in a separate chapter
• Flood Proofing
• Flood proofing measures help greatly in the mitigation of distress and
provide immediate relief to the population in flood prone areas.
• It is essentially a combination of structural change and emergency
action, not involving any evacuation.
• The techniques adopted consist of providing raised platforms for
flood shelter for men and cattle, raising the public utility installation
especially the platforms for drinking water hand pumps and bore
wells above flood level, promoting construction of double-storey
buildings wherein the first floor can be used for taking shelter during
floods.
• Flood Forecasting and Warning
• Flood forecasting enables us to be forewarned as to when the river is
going to use its flood plain, to what extent and for how long.
• A separate chapter has been devoted to the subject of flood
forecasting and warning.
• Integrated Water Resources Management
• Integrated water resources management (IWRM) is an alternative to the dominant sector-bysector,
top-down management style of the past.
• IWRM aims at integrating management of water resources at the basin or watershed scale. IWRM
looks outside the narrow ‘water sector’ for policies and activities to achieve sustainable water
resources development.
• Focus areas for IWRM are water resources assessment, socio-economic assessment, water resources
planning, implementation of action plans, day-today water resources management (adjustments of
the plans) and water resources protection and conservation.
• Flood and water-related DM is a cross-cutting issue that touches upon all of these aspects.
• Given its holistic approach, IWRM takes into consideration several aspects besides water governance.
• These include:
• Water supply and health, e.g., sanitation systems and water-borne diseases;
• water and agriculture, e.g. water productivity and agricultural practices degrading water sources;
• water and bio-diversity, e.g. wetland loss and the need of water for eco-systems;
• water and energy, e.g. hydropower potential;
• water-related disaster reduction and response, e.g. floods and droughts.
• Dam Safety Aspects Dams will be subject to a dam safety programme, both
at the national and state levels to ensure that the specialised expertise
required for the inspection of all structures is available.
• Dam safety programmes will be carried out strictly in accordance with the
standards and guidelines laid down by the Dam Safety Organisation of the
CWC.
• Dam Safety Review involves review of design flood, spillway capacity,
structural soundness of the dam, spillway and appurtenant works and, if
required, taking up of remedial measures in the form of augmenting the
capacity of spillway by appropriate works or constructing additional
spillways, strengthening of the dam, spillway and appurtenant works and
completing the same in a fixed time frame.