Gujarat declares four districts drought-affected under Centre's drought manual
The Gujarat government on October 26, 2026 declared four districts drought-affected: Devbhoomi Dwarka, Kutch, Jamnagar and Porbandar. It cited the Centre's 2016 drought guidelines, and the declaration holds for six months. Farmers whose crops failed will get Rs 8,500 a hectare, for up to two hectares, from the State Disaster Response Fund.
Syllabus: GS3 · Agriculture & Irrigation; GS1 · World Physical Geography; GS3 · Disaster Management
Why this matters for UPSC
GS3 disaster management and GS1 geography: Prelims can ask the Manual for Drought Management's indicators, the six-month notification and how the SDRF and NDRF are funded; Mains, drought relief and the southwest monsoon's uneven spread.
Why it matters
A small farmer in Kutch whose crop failed now has a legal basis for cash help, instead of waiting for a crop survey months later. A herder can buy cheap fodder, and a landless labourer can find paid public work close to home rather than migrate to a city. Once an area is declared, help follows fixed norms rather than an official's discretion. The larger issue is that drought builds slowly, so relief that comes late does little good.
Prelims pointers
- Manual for Drought Management: rainfall data must be considered in every assessment; other indices are read with it to judge the rainfall deficiency's impact.
- Impact indicators: crop area sown; remote sensing (VCI, NDVI, NDWI); soil moisture (PASM, MAI); hydrology (reservoir, groundwater, stream flow indices). Any three of the four types are used.
- Drought notification: names the administrative units (district, taluk, block) and the intensity, moderate or severe; valid up to six months unless de-notified earlier.
- Declaration deadlines: kharif drought by 31 October, rabi drought by 31 March; an extension for delayed sowing cannot exceed three weeks.
- IMD rainfall categories: normal +19% to -19%; deficient -20% to -59%; large deficient -60% to -99%; no rain -100%.
- SDRF shares: Centre and State 3:1 for 18 general category States, 9:1 for 10 special category States; allocations follow the Finance Commission's recommendations.
- NDRF requests: a drought memorandum goes to the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare within a week of declaring severe drought; most other calamities go to the Home Ministry.
- Saurashtra, Kutch and Rajasthan: in parts, rainfall varies from the Long Period Average by over 50%, a cause of recurring drought, per the Manual.
Practise a UPSC-style question
With reference to the declaration of drought under the Manual for Drought Management, consider the following statements:
1. A drought notification is issued by the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare for the affected districts.
2. A drought notification stays valid for at most six months unless it is de-notified earlier.
3. Rainfall deviation, the Standardized Precipitation Index or a dry spell is a mandatory indicator for declaring drought.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 and 2 only
- (b) 2 and 3 only
- (c) 1 and 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Show the answer
Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only
Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only. The State notifies drought; the notice lasts up to six months and rests on rainfall first.
Statement 1: incorrect. Under the Manual, the State Government declares drought by notification, naming the administrative units and the intensity; the Centre only assists.
Statement 2: correct. The Manual says a drought notification is valid for not more than six months unless de-notified earlier.
Statement 3: correct. Rainfall deviation, the SPI or a dry spell sets off the first trigger, and rainfall data must be considered in every drought assessment.
Eliminate: Statement 1 is wrong because declaration is the State Government's act, not the Centre's. Out: (a), (c), (d).
Trap: Swapped attribution. Statement 1 gives the State's power to declare drought to the Union ministry that coordinates central relief.
Remember: States declare drought; the notice holds up to six months; rainfall is the mandatory first trigger.
Explainers on this topic
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