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Deficient Pre-Monsoon Rain Puts Almost Half of India on Drought Alert

Deficient Pre-Monsoon Rain Puts Almost Half of India on Drought Alert

New Delhi: With the new government sworn in on Thursday, one of its priorities would be to help states, particularly those in the south, to tackle deep  More than 40% of the area of the country may face drought, according to the Early Warning System run by IIT, Gandhinagar. Of this, nearly half the area is looking at severe to exceptional 

The rains (between March and May) are an indicator — they have been deficient by 23% across the country. And nearly two-thirds of the country’s area has recorded either deficient or highly deficient rains. That makes it the most serious failure of rains in six years.

Southern states, with 49% deficient rain during the period, have fared the worst. By the time the kicks in, the weighted average rainfall numbers might mask the regional deficiencies and soil moisture levels could improve. But the pre-monsoon deficiency has caused stress in rural India and led to water shortages in cities.

Percentage departures of rainfall from March 11- May 28, 2019. Credit: Business Standard.

This article was originally published on Business Standard. Read it here.

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