Almost half the nation facing drought currently as per IIT Gandhinagar report

According to scientists of Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar, about half of the country is in grip of drought in the present time. About 16% of the country’s 50% population is facing the ‘extraordinary’ or ‘gruesome’ drought. These scientists are working on managing the forecast system of drought in real time in the country. IIT’s associate professor, Vimal Mishra said that those who are suffering from drought in the country may face many challenges in the availability of water in summer this year.

His team, which conducted the real-time accurate monitoring system for drought in the country, collected weather and rainfall data from the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) and then studied it with data related to soil moisture and drought factors. The results of the data prepared by the Water and Climate Lab located at IIT Gandhinagar are available on the IMD website.

Need to take drastic measures

Lab chief Mishra said that the country’s population is facing the ‘extraordinary’ or ‘gruesome’ drought. We have got this information from our real-time monitoring system, which has been developed in our country only. He said that this year Arunachal Pradesh did not get good rains and the northern part of Jharkhand, southern Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu are in the grip of drought. He warned that if these states experience very strong heat before the start of monsoon, then the crisis can deepen.

According to them, this drought would cause more burden on the already depleted groundwater resources of the country, because we are not raising the sources of ground water, on the other hand, we are extracting maximum water from these sources. Global warming and climate change will increase the chances of drought in the coming years. Therefore, the government needs to make some tough decisions regarding ground water and water conservation. Mishra said that if we already have ground water, then you can reduce the ground water erosion by choosing the appropriate crops.

The report said, “We should emphasize the growth of the crops in which the use of water is reduced. Of course, conservation should be encouraged at every level, because 80% of the total fresh water is used in agricultural sites instead of residential properties”. Although, there is no hope of a situation like a famine, but this drought would have a big impact on the economy.