Question

What are drought-prone regions of India? Suggest Preventive measures and preparedness plan for drought mitigation.

Answer 1

Approach:

• Introduction
• Write about drought-prone areas of India Suggest preventive measures
• Give preparedness plan

Out of the total geographical area of India, almost one-sixth area with 12% of the population is drought-prone; the areas that receive an annual rainfall up to 60 cm are the most prone.

Most of the drought-prone areas are found in arid, semi-arid and sub-humid regions of the country. Broadly, the areas in India can be divided into two tracts, the first tract comprising the desert and the semi-arid regions covers an area of 0.6 million sq km. It is rectangle-shaped area whose one side extends from Ahmedabad to Kanpur and the other from Kanpur to Jullundur. In this region, rainfall is less than 750 mm and at some places, it is even less than 400 mm.

The second tract comprises the dry region lying in the lee side of the Western Ghats up to a distance of about 300 km from the coast. It is known as the rain shadow area of the Western Ghats; rainfall in this region is less than 750 mm and is highly erratic.

Outside these two main regions, there are isolated pockets which experience frequent droughts and are termed as drought-prone areas. They are Coimbatore and Nellai Kottabomman districts in Tamil Nadu, Saurashtra and Kachchh regions, Janshi, Lalitpur region, Mirzapur plateau, Kalahandi region, Odisha, Purulia district of Bengal.


Drought can be mitigated by two kinds of measures, either by adopting preventive measures or by developing a preparedness plan:

Preventive measures

• Dams/reservoirs and wetlands to store water
• Watershed management
• Water rationing
• Cattle management
• Proper selection of crop for drought-affected areas
• Levelling, soil-conservation techniques
• Reducing deforestation and firewood cutting in the affected areas
• Alternative land-use models for water sustainability
• Checking of migration and providing alternate employment
• Education and training to the people
• Participatory community programmes Preparedness plan
• Improvement in agriculture through modifying cropping patterns and introducing drought-resistant varieties of crops
• Management of rangeland with the improvement of grazing patterns, the introduction of feed and protection of shrubs and trees.
• Development of water resource system with improved irrigation, development of improved storage facilities, protection of surface water from evaporation and introduction of drip irrigation system
• Animal husbandry activities can help in mitigation with the use of improved and scientific methods