Drought Prone Zone Research Articles

Drought zone monitoring with remote sensing technology in Metro City, Indonesia

Background: Lampung Province, Indonesia, is prone to drought, with 232 villages experiencing drought in recent years according to data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS). Metro City, a region within Lampung Province, is particularly susceptible to drought, as evidenced by a decrease in agricultural production due to drought conditions observed during a three-month period (December 2021–February 2022). Despite the agricultural sector being a crucial economic driver in the region, drought poses significant challenges. Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technologies offer efficient methods for identifying drought-prone areas with precision and accuracy. Methods: This research employs digital image processing techniques, specifically image transformation using various vegetation index algorithms such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), and Normalized Difference Drought Index (NDDI). Landsat 8 OLI satellite imagery is utilized for data analysis, with Quantum GIS serving as the primary application for image processing. Findings: The research findings reveal the distribution of drought-prone zones on agricultural land in Metro City. Conclusion: The Central Metro District exhibits the lowest severity of drought classification, with an agricultural land area of 68.88 hectares classified as experiencing very severe drought. Conversely, the North Metro District is identified as having the most severe drought conditions, encompassing an area of 537.69 hectares.

Salt Lake Aerosol Overview: Emissions, Chemical Composition and Health Impacts under the Changing Climate

Salt Lakes, having a salt concentration higher than that of seawater and hosting unique extremophiles, are predominantly located in drought-prone zones worldwide, accumulating diverse salts and continuously emitting salt dust or aerosols. However, knowledge on emission, chemical composition, and health impacts of Salt Lake aerosols under climate change is scarce. This review delves into the intricate dynamics of Salt Lake aerosols in the context of climate change, pointing out that, as global warming develops and weather patterns shift, Salt Lakes undergo notable changes in water levels, salinity, and overall hydrological balance, leading to a significant alteration of Salt Lake aerosols in generation and emission patterns, physicochemical characteristics, and transportation. Linked to rising temperatures and intensified evaporation, a marked increase will occur in aerosol emissions from breaking waves on the Salt Lake surface and in saline dust emission from dry lakebeds. The hygroscopic nature of these aerosols, coupled with the emission of sulfate aerosols, will impart light-scattering properties and a cooling effect. The rising temperature and wind speed; increase in extreme weather in regard to the number of events; and blooms of aquatic microorganisms, phytoplankton, and artemia salina in and around Salt Lakes, will lead to the release of more organic substances or biogenic compounds, which contribute to the alteration of saline aerosols in regard to their quantitative and chemical composition. Although the inhalation of saline aerosols from Salt Lakes and fine salt particles suspended in the air due to salt dust storms raises potential health concerns, particularly causing respiratory and cardiovascular disease and leading to eye and skin discomfort, rock salt aerosol therapy is proved to be a good treatment and rehabilitation method for the prevention and treatment of pneumoconiosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It is implied that the Salt Lake aerosols, at a certain exposure concentration, likely can delay the pathogenesis of silicosis by regulating oxidative stress and reducing interstitial fibrosis of the lungs. It emphasizes the interconnectedness of climate changes, chemical composition, and health aspects, advocating for a comprehensive and practical approach to address the challenges faced by Salt Lake aerosols in an ever-changing global climate.

A new methodological approach to the establishment of sustainable agricultural ecology in drought vulnerable areas of eastern India

Rice (Oryza sativa L.), the staple food for much of the world, requires gallons of water during its growth phase from tillage to harvest through conventional farming and emits significant greenhouse gases. Hence, modified cultivation techniques are felt to be needed to increase rice productivity, minimize water and fertilizer consumption effectively, and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions to a certain extent. The present experiment was based on the Purulia district, identified as a drought-prone zone through the RS-GIS technique. Two methods, the conventional method (CVN) and the system of rice intensification (SRI), were studied with four varieties of rice, viz. var. MTU 1010, var. IET 4786, var. IET 17430 and var. IET 9947 on water resource vulnerability, associated greenhouse gas emissions (CH4, N2O) and global warming potential (GWP). The results indicated that SRI cultivation is the smart method compared to CVN in the drought-prone Purulia District due to its lower water requirements and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. There was higher CH4 flux among the CVN plots than in the SRI plots (p < 0.05). The N2O flux in the rice field plots of CVN (Rabi-1.54 ± 0.04 kg ha−1, Kharif 1.51 ± 0.10 kg ha−1) was lower than the SRI (Rabi-2.08 ± 0.07, Kharif- 1.83 ± 0.02 kg ha−1) during Rabi season. The CH4 flux for CVN (Rabi-94.32 ± 2.71 kg ha−1; Kharif 110.33 ± 3.90 kg ha−1) was higher than the SRI (Rabi-68.16 ± 2.37, Kharif- 61.72 ± 2.41 kg ha−1) during Rabi season. The CO2-eq emission (pGWP) and yield-scaled CO2-eq emission (YpGWP) from the SRI were significantly lower when compared with CVN (p < 0.05). The result shows that the SRI technique is an effective agricultural method that farmers should be encouraged to follow in the drought-prone region to ensure less water consumption and a sustainable future for generations.

Spatiotemporal Assessment of Meteorological Drought of Paschim Medinipur District, West Bengal, India

The drought phenomenon is linked to the water scarcity and these are the pressing issues that require careful and thoughtful consideration. Drought in India mostly affects regions that are part of numerous plateaus, including the Chottanagpur plateau and the Deccan plateau. The Paschim Medinipur District of West Bengal, which is located in the southern portion of the Chottanagpur plateau, has recently experienced extreme and severe drought on multiple occasions. The assessment of the drought scenario in this region is, nevertheless, still very far from being finalized. Using the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) at various time intervals (e.g., 3 months, 6 months, 12 months and 48 months) between 1979 and 2014, we have evaluated drought both geographically and temporally in this study. Here, the drought evaluation metrics include peak intensity, average intensity, magnitude, occurrence rate (%) and trend. Peak intensity, magnitude, average drought intensity, and the frequency of Extreme to Severe (ES) droughts are all seen to decline noticeably as time steps move forward. The frequency of moderate droughts starts to rise as time moves forward. Peak intensity, magnitude, average drought intensity, drought duration, ES and moderate drought occurrence rate is high in southern and southwestern portions of Paschim Medinipur. Additionally, the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) composite scores used to identify the drought-prone zones are estimated using the aforementioned parameters at various time steps. As the time step increases the area under the high and high moderate drought prone zone decreases, but very low and low drought prone area increases. Overall 16% area is found under high to high moderate drought prone category, whereas, approximately, 65% area is found under the low to low moderate drought category. The outcome of this research may be helpful to combat with drought and to make a fruitful move to manage water resources in the Paschim Medinipur region, West Bengal. Additionally, the study makes use of a superb methodology to comprehend the spatiotemporal variation of meteorological drought, which is applicable to all parts of the globe.

Assessment and Identification of drought prone zone in a Low Laying Area by AHP and MIF method: A GIS based study

The study location, the Imphal West district of Manipur state, is known for its flood-prone character due to its low-lying topography in India’s north-eastern region. Unexpectedly, in the year 2019, a drought-like scenario with extremely limited available surface water arose, severely affecting agricultural activity in the region, which is primarily covered by agricultural land. Drought-prone zones for 2019 were discovered using GIS (Geographical Information System) tools and satellite data, employing both the AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) and MIF (Multi Influencing Factor) methods. Seven parameters (rainfall, temperature, slope, drainage density, soil, landuse/landcover, and groundwater yield) were taken as input parameters. Drought zones were simulated and classified as mild (22.82% according to AHP and 39.42% according to MIF), moderate (60.10% and 54.71%), severe (16.16% and 5.55%), and extreme (0.92% and 0.32%). Drought data (ground data) from the State Government Department (2019) shows that 43.71% of drought zones are mild, while 51.32% are moderate, indicating that the MIF approach can more accurately simulate the drought region than the AHP method.

Meteorological Drought in Bangladesh using Standardized Precipitation Index: A Spatiotemporal Approach

Drought observation and analysis have a significant impact on lives and properties. This research aims to identify the drought trend with its spatiotemporal distribution in seven climatic zones of Bangladesh. Mann-Kendall test and Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) were used to identify the trend and spatiotemporal phenomenon visualized by Inverse Distance Weighting Interpolation. The findings demonstrate a substantial declining drought trend for short-term period to annual of SPI-3, SPI-6 and SPI-12 concerning the northern part of the northern zone, north-western, western, southwestern, and south-central zones whereas only increasing trend among these zones are found for SPI-3 of south-central zone. Furthermore, southeastern and north eastern zone are found for increasing trend of drought vulnerabilities for all the classes of SPI-3, SPI-6 and SPI-12. The northern part of the northern zone, north western and western are found for highest drought prone zones as it obtained SPI-12 of &gt;-0.026, &gt;-0.024 and &gt;- 0.025 respectively. The study recommends that mechanisms and maintenance for water management be taken in order to integrate drought response strategies for droughtprone climatic zones. The Dhaka University Journal of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Centennial Special Volume June 2022: 1-16

Analisis spasial temporal zona rawan kekeringan lahan pertanian berbasis remote sensing

A mapping model of drought-prone zones for agricultural land based on Geographic Information Systems is needed to determine the distribution of drought vulnerability levels that occured in Bantul Regency, DI Yogyakarta. This study aims to determine the estimated area of agricultural land drought based on the interpretation of aerial images. This study compares the performance of the drought potential index of agricultural land using the Normalized Difference Drought Index (NDDI) algorithm based on remote sensing technology/ Landsat 8 satellite imagery to identify the estimated zones indicated for agricultural land drought that occurred in Bantul Regency, based on trends in spatio-temporal data with recording intervals from the 2015 until 2020 data representative during the dry season. Comparisons were made by looking at the performance between indices extracted from Landsat 8 imagery data based on the value of the green vegetation parameter/ Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the soil and vegetation moisture parameters/ Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI). The method used in this research is descriptive correlative method: quantitative and qualitative deductive using geostatistical indicators based on big data analysis to measure and compare various data variables spatio-temporal. The distribution of agricultural land drought through the NDDI index transformation method on a normal, mild, moderate, to severe scale occurs in almost all areas of Bantul Regency. This happened, due to the influence of natural activities of the global climate phenomenon ENSO, the impact of the transition of the El Nino phenomenon to La Nina (wet drought) which was more dominant in 2016. The average area affected by drought in Bantul Regency on a normal scale affected was ± 6.500,49 ha, affected by mild drought was ± 17.192,16 ha, affected by moderate-scale drought was ± 8.636,155 ha, and affected by drought of heavy scale agricultural land was ± 2.407,485 ha.

Intra-regional Development Disparities: Virtual Regions Strategy for Development of Tribal Communities and Water-stressed Regions in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana

Intra-regional Development Disparities: Virtual Regions Strategy for Development of Tribal Communities and Water-stressed Regions in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana

An Integrated Application of Remote Sensing, GIS and VES for Artificial Recharging at Watershed from South Solapur Taluka, Solapur District, Maharashtra

Over growing demand of water has led scientific community to plan augmentation of ground water by various methods. The objectives achieved in present study are to arrest run-off and silt flow, to facilitate infiltration of water. The study area considered is a small Micro Watershed from South Solapur District which is Drought prone zone. The study was an attempt to delineate the possible recharge zone for groundwater and also to identify the suitable sites for artificial recharge structures. The remote sensing, geographic information system and electrical resistivity (VES) has played important role in investigation for identifying the probable sites for artificial recharge structures.Subsurface resistivity sounding studies have revealed to know the subsurface lithological distribution and thickness of different layers and this has been correlated with local geological setup to suggest the artificial recharge structures.

Applicability of SPI and RDI for forthcoming drought events: a non-parametric trend and one way ANOVA approach

Abstract Monthly, seasonal and annual trends of rainfall and temperature (both minimum and maximum) have been analyzed using the Mann–Kendall trend test (a non-parametric test) and Sen's slope estimator for Sagar division, India from 1988 to 2018. Sagar division is a drought-prone zone of Madhya Pradesh, India. The same analysis has been performed for two drought indices, the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and Reconnaissance Drought Index (RDI). Both indices were calculated to see the trend in the drought for 35 rain-gauge stations belonging to the study area. The study revealed that the minimum temperature had increased more than the maximum temperature in the last 31 years. The strong similarity in the results of Sen's slope of SPI and RDI were seen for both significant and non-significant trends. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) testing validates the substantial similarity between SPI and RDI based on Sen's slope. It also indicated the suitability of RDI for future projection of drought using the general circulation models (GCMs) or regional climate models (RCMs) in meteorological drought as well as the agricultural drought category. In contrast, the SPI indicated the meteorological drought only. The distribution of trends of temperature and drought indices were presented using the kriging interpolation.

Simulation of meteorological drought using exponential smoothing models: a study on Bankura District, West Bengal, India

Water scarcity and drought management is the burning issue in India and hence needs serious attention of researchers to develop rigorous plan and management. Areas that belong to various plateaus, e.g., Chotanagpur plateau, Deccan plateau, etc., are mostly affected by drought in India. In the past decade, Bankura District of West Bengal, which belongs to northeast part of Chotanagpur plateau, faced severe drought several times. However, the assessment of drought scenario in this area is far from conclusive statement till date. In this paper, we simulate standardized precipitation index (SPI) using double exponential (DE) and Holt–Winter exponential smoothing model (HW) for several time steps (e.g., 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, 24 months and 48 months) in the time period of 1979–2014. The comparative analysis between two models indicates that DE is more accurate one. DE is observed with relatively low root mean squared error (RMSE) and high R2 value. Furthermore, drought-prone zones are demarcated using combined scores of principal component analysis (PCA) and those combined scores are estimated using actual, HW and DE simulated SPI in several time steps. At the shorter (3 and 6 months) and longer time step (12, 24 and 48 months), the PCA demonstrates almost same results. The western and northwestern blocks of the district are severely affected by drought, and the southern portions are at mild condition. Spatially distributed RMSE in every time steps is also high in northwestern portions of the study region. Our result may be useful to understand the pattern of drought to take necessary action in management of water resources in Bankura District, West Bengal. Moreover, the study uses an unique methodology to simulate and assess meteorological drought, which is applicable in any region of the world.

An intra-household analysis of farmers’ perceptions of and adaptation to climate change impacts: empirical evidence from drought prone zones of Bangladesh

The agricultural sector is highly vulnerable to climate change, particularly in drought-prone environments. An understanding of perceptions, adaptation strategies, and their determinants including a gender analysis can benefit vulnerable farmers and policy makers. Using a survey of 360 farming household heads and their spouses, this study identified the intra-household perceptions and their determinants, the major strategies adopted by the farmers to adapt to climate change, and the factors that affect their adaptation decision and choice of strategies including the role of intra-household decision making in a drought prone environment of Bangladesh. The adaptation methods identified include short-duration and drought-tolerant rice varieties, supplementary irrigation for crop production, non-rice winter and horticultural crops, and improved channels for irrigation and water harvesting. Discrete choice model results indicate that age, household size, membership in any organization, access to credit, drought severity, amount of cultivated land, and agricultural subsidy significantly influence farmers’ adaptation decision and choices. Results reveal that climate change perceptions of husbands and spouses within the same households differ significantly and intra-household decision making plays a significant role in adaptation decision and selection of alternative adaptation strategies. The results would improve our understanding of farms and farming households and their climate change perceptions and adaptation choices by location and gender, thereby enabling us to outline better strategies to adapt to the changing climate.

Multiple indices based drought analysis by using long term climatic variables over a part of Koel river basin, India

The present study demonstrates changes in vegetation pattern and climatic variability in past years in the parts of Koel basin in Jharkhand state of India by considering the spatial climatic variability, NDVI anomaly and satellite based drought indices viz Vegetation Condition Index (VCI), Temperature Condition Index (TCI) and Vegetation Health Index (VHI). Least square statistical method has been used for assessment of long term climatic fluctuation of major four climatic parameters viz maximum temperature of summer season, minimum temperature of winter season, rainfall of monsoon season, and solar radiation of Rabi and kharif season. Analysis of climate extremes has been done for 26 locations in the study area and then interpolated spatially in Geographical Information System platform. Long term NDVI anomaly shows adverse effect of climate extreme in past 20 years in the study area. The climatic variability exhibits that average maximum temperature during 1979–2017 fluctuates with an increase of 0.50–0.81 °C contrary to a decrease of 0.32–0.15 °C in various parts of study area. Similarly rainfall fluctuates with a decrease of 26–90 mm contrary to an increase of 19–230 mm. Drought prone zones as delineated from spatial overlaying map of VCI, TCI and VHI indicated value from 23 to 55. Major part of the study area severely affected by drought facing water scarcity and mediocre vegetation condition. These areas need proper planning and soil moisture management to overcome the recurrent drought conditions perceived in upcoming years.

Physical and Chemical Properties of Soybean-growing Soil in Different Agro-ecological Zones of Marathwada Region

Horizon-wise soil samples (9 profiles) from Osmanabad, Latur, Beed (Drought prone zone) and Nanded, Parbhani (assured rainfall zone) from Marathwada region were collected and analyzed. The sand, silt and clay content ranged from 10.20 to 34.30, 17.90 to 32.20 and 43.70 to 59.30% respectively. The soils were slightly to moderately alkaline in reaction. The saturated hydraulic conductivity (sHC) ranged from 0.20 to 5.30 cm hr1 and CEC of soils varied from 33.30 to 67.10 cmol (p+) kg-1. Majority of surface and sub-surface layers had relatively higher soil organic carbon than underlying ones. The available N, P and K content ranged from 37.60 to 334.80, 1.0 to 27.10 and 224.90 to 583.80 kg ha-1 in soils, respectively. The DTPA-Zn found deficient in all the soils.

Delineation of agricultural drought-prone zones considering irrigation capacities of agricultural facilities under climate change

This study was conducted to delineate agricultural drought-prone zones with respect to each agricultural watershed in South Korea, considering irrigation capacity of agricultural facilities under the representative concentration pathways (RCPs) as the latest generation of climate change scenario. Simulated temporal and spatial data (2011–2100) on precipitation and temperature for two RCPs, high-level greenhouse gases emission scenario (RCP 8.5) and intermediate-level one (RCP 4.5) were applied to the standardized precipitation index (SPI) in order to project meteorological drought periods in the twenty-first century. With consideration of irrigation capacity of agricultural facilities on the each watershed, non-beneficial areas on irrigation were designated to be agricultural drought-prone zones during the projected drought periods. One representative watershed was selected to identify the applicability of the delineating method. Results of the SPI simulation exhibited five separate drought periods (2020s, mid-2030s, mid-2040s, 2050s, and 2080s) during the twenty-first century on this watershed. During the projected drought periods, 22 administrative towns (73%) among 30 towns in this watershed would turn out to be continuously irrigated by 61 agricultural facilities enduring 10-year cycle meteorological drought. Remaining 8 towns (27%) would be vulnerable to droughts due to lack of irrigation water. The standardized groundwater level index exhibited groundwater aquifer has an irrigation capacity on the farm fields during long-term drought periods.

Delineation of Groundwater Potential Zones of Semi-Arid Region of YSR Kadapa District Andhra Pradesh India using RS GIS and Analytic Hierarchy Process

Water scarcity due to increasing urbanization and population in urban and rural areas makes necessary planning for artificial groundwater recharge. Remote Sensing (RS), Geographic Information System (GIS) and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) are advantageous tools to delineate the Groundwater Potential Zones (GWPZ) in arid and semi-arid areas of India. An aggregate of eight thematic layers affecting groundwater potential of the area were assigned appropriate weights dependent on the Saaty’s 9 point scale. These weights were normalized using AHP technique to delineate the GWPZ. About 2.30km2 shows very good groundwater potential (GWP), 162.10km2 shows good GWP, whereas 127.78km2 and 1.45km2 are under moderate and poor GWP, correspondingly. The structural hilly terrain located in the Eastern and Southern parts has a poor groundwater potential due to higher degree of slope and low permeability of clayey soils. This study can be helpful to identify the GWPZ of drought-prone zones useful for planning and development with integrated water resources management.

Characteristics of Observed Meteorological Drought and its Linkage with Low-Level Easterly Wind Over India

Meteorological drought in India arises due to significant deficiency of rainfall for abnormal periods over an area. The large spatial and temporal variability of Indian summer monsoon rainfall (ISMR) over the Eastern Gangetic Plain (EGP) of India triggers meteorological drought (further leading to agricultural and hydrological drought), with widespread effects on both agricultural production and water resources over the area. To assess meteorological drought over agro-climatic zones of the states of Uttar Pradesh (UP), Bihar and West Bengal (WB) in the EGP, high-resolution gridded rainfall data (1961–2013) at resolution of 0.25° × 0.25° of India Meteorological Department (IMD) and u, v wind at 850 hPa at resolution of 0.25 × 0.25° of ERA-40 (1961–2002) of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) is considered. Over the agro-climatic zones, the seasonality index (SI) of summer monsoon rainfall, spatial and temporal distribution of the 4-month Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI-4), frequency and probability of drought occurrence is estimated. The severe drought-prone zones are found to be over agro-climatic zones 6, 8 and 10 of UP; 1, 2 and 3B of Bihar with more than 50% probability of drought occurrence. At a 95% confidence level, a significant decrease in rainfall (for the period 1961–2013) is found over these zones. Over the EGP, a low-level easterly wind at 850 hPa in July is shifted towards foothills of the Himalaya, while in August it is weakened during drought conditions. This low-level easterly wind may be responsible for less moisture incursion over the Gangetic Plain from the Bay of Bengal, and may be the probable cause of less rainfall over the EGP, leading to meteorological drought.

Hydrological Analysis and Assessment about the impact of Limestone Mining on water Pollution in Hial Area , Bolangir district, Odisha, India

80 percent area of Odisha are underlain by hard rock .Therefore Ground water resource is very scarce inmost part of the state. Bolangir district is known as drought prone area .Our study area comes under drought prone zone. Most people depend on ground water for agricultural and drinking purpose. Water is a scarcere source there. A number of Lime Stone mines are being operated in the study area adds to further scarcity as contamination may render a part of available resource as unsuitable for use . Lithology controls the water chemistry of the area . There is a direct relationship between the rock type and water composition of the area. Rock type is the main factor which is responsible for controlling water quality mechanism of the study area. While Lime Stone affects the water pollution , simultaneously host rock in the area and variation of the rock type is also notable factor in its hydrology. Therefore it is essential to make a detailed hydrological study of the area under observation in order to assess the impact of Lime Stone Mining on water pollution .For quality evaluation during pre monsoon period and post monsoon period from 2010 to 2015 water samples were collected from the study area and were analysed in Laboratory .

Comparative Morphometric Analysis of Three Watersheds of the Jhabua Region, M.P., using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques

In the present study, Morphometric analysis has been conducted using Geographical Information System (GIS) techniques to assess the geo-hydrological characteristics of watersheds (Mod nadi, Sapan nadi, and Negri nadi) of Mahi river basin (Jhabua region). The basin is characterized by dendritic drainage pattern. The region is semi-arid (Agro-ecological zone of India), which belong to highly drought prone zone and degraded lands. Morphometric analysis of drainage system is an important factor of characterization of watershed. It furnishes the advantageous parameters for the ground water potential zone assessment, identification of places for water harvesting structure, water resource management and geological nature of the river system. GIS techniques has been used for assessing various morphometric characteristics of the drainage basin, as they proved to be very efficient and a powerful tool for the manipulation and analysis of spatial information mainly for the feature identification and extraction of information for better understanding. Using DEM data and GIS & Remote sensing techniques, morphometric analysis is carried out through mathematical analysis of drainage system of watersheds, which involves measurement of linear, Arial and relief aspects of the river basin.

Identification of groundwater drought prone zones in Pedda vagu and Ookachetti vagu watersheds, tributaries of the Krishna River, India

The Pedda vagu and Ookachetti vagu watersheds located in the semi-arid regions of Mahabubnagar district are highly dependent on groundwater for irrigation owing to unreliable rainfall and over extraction of groundwater. The present study has been conducted to identify spatio-temporal groundwater droughts and drought-prone zones. Temporal groundwater droughts have been determined using a standardized water-level index along with spatial groundwater droughts using spline interpolation in Geographic Information Systems. The study shows that the groundwater droughts varied among the stations during the observation period, i.e. 1998–2011. However, the spatial assessment shows that the region as such experienced more mild groundwater droughts except during severe meteorological drought years (1998, 2002, 2004 and 2008); this indicates that the region has good scope for groundwater exploitation during dry spells and initial stages of droughts. Therefore, it is critical to have plans for the development of groundwater to cope with drought.