A number of districts in the country, especially in Maharashtra, have been reeling under drought for several months. Though water is a state subject, there have been a number of guidelines released by the central government on tackling drought. How many of these are actually adhered to and implemented is debatable but here is a short history about these guidelines:

1.    The ministry of agriculture in November 2009 released ‘Manual for Drought Management’, which was developed by the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) through a consultative process involving concerned central ministries, state governments, scientific, technical and research organisations and grass root level organisations working for mitigation and management of drought.

The manual suggested a different approach to drought management, based on the following features:

•    Abandon the use of famine codes and varied state management plans
•    Focus on mitigation measures
•    Adopt newer technologies
•    Adapt to the new legal framework
•    Include employment and area development programmes in drought mitigation
•    Prescribe standardised steps for management at the national/central level

Here’s the full report

2.   Later in September 2010, the National Disaster Management Authority too came out with a set of guidelines for managing drought. The guidelines were formulated after a 'nine-step' process-taking through a process of wide-consultation with various central ministries and departments, states and union territories, and other stakeholders, including scientific and technical institutions, non-governmental organisations and community-based organisations.

The guidelines consisted of eight chapters giving directions to concerned authorities for preparing detailed action plans to handle drought:

•    Status and context
•    Institutional framework and financial arrangements
•    Assessment and early warning
•    Prevention, preparedness & mitigation
•    Capacity development
•    Relief and response
•    Implementation of guidelines-preparation of drought management plans
•    Summary of action points

Here’s the full report

Perhaps, drought-hit states like Maharashtra, Telangana, Karnataka, and others, can learn a few things from these guidelines.