Management Of Drought And Its Preparedness

Drought can be defined as a natural disaster which takes place due to scarcity of water whether it is groundwater, surface water, or less precipitation. Drought can last for years or even for a short period of time depending upon the temperature of the particular area where drought has occurred. As the temperature rises, evaporation of water increases due to which drought occurs. However, droughts have become more extreme and more unpredictable due to climate change. Drought threatens people’s livelihood, increases the risk of diseases, deaths and fuels mass migration. Water scarcity impacts 40% of the world’s population and as many as 700 million people are at risk of being displaced as a result of drought by 2030. Droughts are complex and multifaceted phenomena but still least understood of all natural hazards, affecting more people than any other hazard. Drought impacts are long lasting at times of lingering for many years. It occurs with varying frequency in all regions of the globe i.e., high as well as in low rainfall areas: in all types of economic systems, socialist and capitalist: and in developed and less developed countries alike. Droughts differ from one another in three essential characteristics: intensity, duration and spatial coverage. Like, other environmental phenomena, it cannot be understood solely through scientific investigation. Instead, it is constituted though the interactions between science, nature and society.