{"id":302268,"date":"2024-06-26T19:48:21","date_gmt":"2024-06-26T14:18:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=302268"},"modified":"2024-06-26T19:48:21","modified_gmt":"2024-06-26T14:18:21","slug":"causes-of-drought-in-maharashtra","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/causes-of-drought-in-maharashtra\/","title":{"rendered":"Causes of drought in Maharashtra"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source: The post causes of drought in Maharashtra has been created, based on the article \u201cAnalysing Maharashtra\u2019s water crisis<\/strong>\u201d published in \u201cThe Hindu<\/strong>\u201d on 26th June 2024<\/p>\n

UPSC Syllabus Topic:<\/strong> GS Paper 3<\/strong>– Environment- Conservation<\/p>\n

Context<\/strong>: The article discusses the drought in Marathwada, Maharashtra. It explains how the rain-shadow effect and climate change worsen water scarcity. It highlights the problems with water-intensive crops like sugarcane and suggests solutions like better water management and crop diversification.<\/p>\n

For detailed information on Water Crisis in India<\/strong> read this article here<\/a><\/p>\n

What are the causes of drought in Maharashtra?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Rain-shadow Effect<\/strong>: Marathwada lies in the rain-shadow region of the Western Ghats, receiving only 600-800 mm of rainfall compared to 2,000-4,000 mm on the western side.<\/li>\n
  2. Climate Change<\/strong>: A 2016 IIT Gandhinagar study found increasing drought severity and frequency in central Maharashtra, worsening the situation.<\/li>\n
  3. Water-intensive Crops<\/strong>: Sugarcane, which requires 1,500-2,500 mm of water, occupies 4% of cropped area but consumes 61% of irrigation water. Government support has expanded its cultivation despite recommendations to ban it in low-rainfall areas.<\/li>\n
  4. Soil and Topography<\/strong>: Marathwada’s clayey black soil (locally called \u201cregur\u201d) has a low infiltration rate, causing water runoff instead of groundwater recharge. This soil retains water, leading to logging or runoff, not percolation.<\/li>\n
  5. Geographic Disadvantage<\/strong>: Upland areas face severe water scarcity as groundwater moves to valleys, leaving upland wells dry a few months after the monsoons.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    What should be done?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
      \n
    1. Implement Supply-Side Solutions<\/strong>: Build water-conserving structures like contour trenches, earthen bunds, and gully plugs to capture rainwater runoff. Maharashtra has 1,845 large dams, but more small-scale structures are needed to manage water better.<\/li>\n
    2. Promote Water-Efficient Crops<\/strong>: Shift from water-intensive crops like sugarcane, which occupies 4% of cropped area but uses 61% of irrigation water, to drought-resistant crops like pulses and millets.<\/li>\n
    3. Government Policy Change<\/strong>: Follow the Maharashtra Water and Irrigation Commission’s recommendation to ban sugarcane in areas with less than 1,000 mm of rainfall.<\/li>\n
    4. Use Employment Schemes<\/strong>: Utilize funds from the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme to design silt-trapping mechanisms and train farmers on desilting techniques.<\/li>\n
    5. Diversify Agriculture<\/strong>: Encourage high-value, low-water-using crops and diversify livelihoods to reduce dependency on water-intensive farming.<\/li>\n
    6. Address Groundwater Variability<\/strong>: Provide special support to upland areas where wells dry up after monsoons.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Question for practice:<\/strong><\/p>\n

      Discuss the main causes of the drought in Marathwada, Maharashtra, and propose solutions to mitigate its impact.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Source: The post causes of drought in Maharashtra has been created, based on the article \u201cAnalysing Maharashtra\u2019s water crisis\u201d published in \u201cThe Hindu\u201d on 26th June 2024 UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper 3– Environment- Conservation Context: The article discusses the drought in Marathwada, Maharashtra. It explains how the rain-shadow effect and climate change worsen water… Continue reading Causes of drought in Maharashtra<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10320,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,9],"tags":[59,216,10498],"class_list":["post-302268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-public","tag-environment","tag-gs-paper-3","tag-the-hindu","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=302268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302268\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=302268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=302268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=302268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}