drough affected districts
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 9, 2016
As per the information given by the government in the Rajya Sabha, 266 districts in 11 different states are declared drought affected in 2015-16.  A total of 13497 crore rupees has been approved for drought relief by the NDRF in 2015-16.
Certain parts of the country are reeling under a severe drought. The impact is also visible in the amount of food grain production. The food grain production in 2015-16 has decreased compared to the average production of the preceding 5 years. The average food grain production between 2010-11 and 2014-15 is 255.59 million tonnes, while in 2015-16, it is estimated to be at 253.16 million tones. As on date, 266 districts in 11 different states have been declared drought affected in 2015-16.
More than 70% districts drought affected in 8 states
Out of the 11 states that have drought affected districts, more than 70% of the districts are affected in eight of these states. In both Chhattisgarh & Karnataka, 93% of the districts are drought affected followed by Jharkhand with 92% drought affected districts. 90% of the districts are drought affected in both Odisha & Madhya Pradesh. Maharashtra has 78% drought affected districts, Andhra Pradesh has 77% and Telangana has 70% drought affected districts. 2/3 of the districts are drought affected in Uttar Pradesh while 58% of the districts are drought affected in Rajasthan. Out of the 11 states, Gujarat has the lowest percentage (15%) of drought affected districts.
In terms of absolute numbers, Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of drought affected districts (50) followed by Madhya Pradesh (46). More than 20 districts are affected by drought in five other states.
Except in Karnataka, all other districts are drought affected in Kharif
Except in Karnataka, districts in other states were declared drought affected during Kharif season. In Karnataka, 27 districts were declared as drought affected during Kharif out of which 12 were declared drought affected in Rabi as well. As per the available information, the overall deficiency in the rainfall in 2015-16 was 14% over the Long Period Average (LPA).
Close to 13500 crore released from NDRF for drought relief
The State Governments are primarily responsible for taking necessary relief measures during natural calamities like drought. Government of India (GOI) supplements efforts of State Government with financial assistance and logistical support.
For undertaking relief measures, funds are available with State Government in the form of State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF). SDRF is funded both by the State and Central Governments.  Additional financial assistance over and above what is available with SDRF, is granted form the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) for natural calamities of severe nature and is approved on the basis of the requests received from State Governments. The financial assistance and relief to the victims of the calamities is to be given based on the revised norms by the Government of India.
In 2015-16, various states had submitted requests on drought, seeking financial assistance from NDRF. Close to 13500 crore rupees has been approved from NDRF for drought relief in 10 different states affected by drought. Maharashtra has been given the highest amount of relief (3049 crore) followed by Karnataka with 2263 crore for two seasons. Madhya Pradesh is given 2033 crore for drought relief. Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh & Chhattisgarh were given more than 1000 crore for drought relief.
Featured image: By Pushkarv [GFDL or CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons