Marathwada drought man-made, says study

MUMBAI: The 2015-16 drought in Marathwada was not the result of climate change, but poor management of water resources, according to a study by the Pune-based Indian

MUMBAI: The 2015-16 drought in Marathwada was not the result of climate change, but poor management of water resources, according to a study by the Pune-based Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology and Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. The study analysed 145 years of monsoon rainfall data for the region.

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The region is prone to droughts. However, the magnitude of the latest drought could have been reduced if crop cultivation and water resources were properly managed, the study says.

Researchers, who studied rainfall data between 1871 and 2015, concluded that in the past four decades, there have been changes in the strategies used to cultivate crops and to manage water resources. The research categorically states that the flow of irrigation water, exploitation of ground water, allocation of water to cultivate water-intensive crops such as sugarcane and pulses have to be examined and sustainable strategies, which adapt to varying rainfall patterns have to be identified and adopted.

The analysis shows that the chances of a drought in Marathwada is nearly one in six to seven years. Between 1871 and 2015, the region witnessed 22 droughts, with consecutive droughts having occurred five times in 1876–77, 1920–21, 1971–72, 1984–85 and 2014–15. Interestingly, the region did not witness a single drought from 1940–1970, and there were no droughts between 1999 and 2011, despite rainfall being below normal levels.

The average June–September rainfall for the Marathwada region is 687mm, but the deviation can be as high as 27% of the average rainfall. The rainfall deficit in Marathwada last year was 40% — far lower than the deficit of 54% during the 1972 drought in the region, which succeeded the drought of 1971.

Unlike the 1972 drought, which didn’t report farmer suicides or water scarcity, more than 1,000 farmers committed suicide last year. The region faced water scarcity with substantial losses in the production of crops. Production of pulses decreased to 52% of the normal — 42% decrease in tur dal, 71% in moong dal and 74% in urad dal. The paper states that unlike the 2015 Marathwada drought, in which water and fodder were major concerns, the 1972 drought was about food and fodder.

The paper goes on to state that there has been no significant change in the average seasonal rainfall or in the drought pattern.