Meteorological Drought Characteristics in Eastern Region of India

Abstract

Droughts are regional climatic phenomena, occurring due to less than average precipitation over a prolonged time at a given place, and subsequently, leading to water deficit and socioeconomic loss. In this analysis, monthly rainfall data of 113 years for 132 districts located in eastern part of India include the states of Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Orissa and eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh have been used. The percentage deviation in seasonal rainfall has been used to identify commencement, termination and estimation of drought severity. It is observed from the analysis that the frequency of drought in larger part of study area is once in 7 years or more, only in the east Uttar Pradesh, the return period varies from 5 to 6 years. The eastern part of the country hardly experienced extreme droughts while the east Uttar Pradesh is susceptible to the severe events. It was also observed that the eastern part of the country experiences severe droughts once in 19 years or more. The region also faced droughts of 2, 3 and 4 consecutive years. The results obtained from this study will be very useful for making strategies and plans for effective mitigation of droughts in eastern India.