The Maharashtra government declares drought conditions in 75% of its subdistricts due to a deficit in rainfall during the southwest monsoon season, with an additional impact from the El Niño weather phenomenon.
The Maharashtra government has declared drought conditions in 75% of its subdistricts, affecting 265 talukas, due to a deficit in rainfall during the southwest monsoon season. The government order facilitates the assessment of crop damage and enables 12 relief measures including a waiver of land revenue, restructuring of crop loans, a stay on the recovery of farm loans, concession on electricity bills of agricultural pumps, and making available tankers to supply drinking water.
The order covers 265 talukas where a ‘trigger-1’ criterion has been met. The 2026 Drought Management Code defines trigger-1 as a dry spell of at least 21 consecutive days during the monsoon. The affected talukas are spread across 32 of the state’s 34 districts including Ahilyanagar, Amravati, Beed, Bhandara, Gadchiroli, Jalgaon, Latur, Nagpur, Nanded, Nandurbar, Parbhani, Pune, Ratnagiri, Sangli, Sindhudurg, Solapur, Wardha and Yavatmal. According to The Indian Express, the southwest monsoon is expected to begin its withdrawal from Maharashtra by October 5 with a 17% rainfall deficit.
Between June 1 and September 22, Maharashtra recorded an average 787.2 mm of rainfall against the usual average of 953.2 mm during the period. In Solapur district, the rainfall was 57% below normal, while in Ahilyanagar, the deficit was 42%, followed by 34% in Nadurbar and 24% in Sangli.
The India Meteorological Department has said that strong El Niño conditions are prevailing over the equatorial Pacific Ocean, with sea surface temperature remaining above-normal in central and eastern equatorial Pacific. The El Niño weather phenomenon involves the warming of ocean surface temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific, which typically occurs every few years and has been linked to reduced monsoon rainfall in India. According to a report by The Indian Express, the conditions are expected to strengthen further in the coming months.
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