Drought Epidemic Looms Over the Country
The rainfall data points under the effect of El Niño to a highly uneven and increasingly volatile monsoon, with serious implications for India’ s rain-dependent agriculture. For India’ s most rain-dependent farming districts, the larger challenge is increasingly unpredictable rainfall— too little rain when crops need it, followed by too much rain over short periods, which is affecting agriculture. On the other hand, people in many parts of the country are suffering from lack of drinking water and water for daily needs.
The Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare said on June 23, 2026, that around 315 districts could be affected by a‘ weak’ or‘ uncertain’ monsoon and a possible‘ super’ El Niño. Of these, 147 districts, or about 47 percent across 25 states / Union Territories( UTs) are currently recording deficient rainfall according to Down To Earth’ s analysis of cumulative rainfall between June 1 and August 30, 2026.
The 315 districts have been classified into three categories based on their irrigation coverage. Of these, 111 are‘ high priority’ districts, with less than 25 percent of their area under irrigation, making them the most vulnerable to a weak monsoon.
Another 76 districts are classified as‘ medium priority’, with
CPI( ML) Prakasam District Secretary Comrade DVN Swamy urged the public to understand the conspiracies of the rulers who are stoking caste and religious tensions to divert attention from their policies, which are pushing the country and people’ s lives into an economic crisis. He called for opposing the faulty policies of the rulers, who present borrowing loans instead of investing in productive sectors that generate employment as“ development,” and September-2026 irrigation coverage between 25 and 50 percent.
The remaining 128 districts are‘ low priority’, with more than 50 percent irrigation coverage or relatively better access to water through dams and other infrastructure.
While 147 El Niño-prone districts are facing deficient rainfall, 30 have received excess or large-excess rainfall. Of these, 19 are high-priority districts.
Among the high-priority districts, 36 percent have received deficient rainfall, while 17 percent have received excess or largeexcess rainfall. This shows how uneven and erratic the monsoon has been across these districts.
The cumulative rainfall deficit in these districts indicates that the strengthening El Niño pattern might have impacted and led to deficit rains in areas where agriculture is particularly dependent on the monsoon.
According to the India Drought Monitor, the most severely affected states, by share of area under drought, were Sikkim( 80.8 percent), Arunachal Pradesh( 78.3 percent), Andhra Pradesh( 72.4 percent), Mizoram( 68 percent), Goa( 67.9 percent), and Delhi( 65.2 percent). The least affected are Nagaland( 1.3 percent), Gujarat( 2.7 percent), Tripura( 9.9 percent), and Rajasthan( 10.8 percent).
paying interest on those loans as“ economic policy.”
District Secretary of the Rythu Kooli Sangam( A. P.) Comrade S. Lalitha Kumari, Trust member Karumanchi Subbarao also addressed the gathering.
Following the meeting, the documentary‘ Man of the Earth’, produced by Dharitri Creations on the revolutionary life of Comrade Nagi Reddy, was screened. Songs performed by cultural artists inspired the audience. �
Regionally, northeast India was the worst-hit, with about 58 percent of its area under drought, followed by west India at 43 percent and south India at 40 percent. North, east and central India were each at about 34 percent, while northwest India was comparatively unaffected at around 11 percent.
A separate measure, IMD Pune’ s Aridity Anomaly Index, pointed to a similar trend: roughly 20 percent of India’ s districts were classified as mildly arid, 12 percent as moderately arid, and 6 percent as severely arid.
India has seen intense rainfall in recent weeks, with some areas experiencing flood and flood-like situations. Yet as August began, over a third of the country’ s land area was under different categories of drought, according to the India Drought Monitor maintained by IIT Gandhinagar.
According to the latest assessment by the India Drought Monitor, 39.8 percent of India’ s area is currently under drought. This is an expansion of 1.0 percentage point compared to the previous week’ s 38.9 percent.
The rainfall deficit is leading to drought conditions in several high-, medium- and low-priority districts vulnerable to El Niño.
Forecasts suggested the situation may not ease soon. Scientists tracking soil moisture say that drought is likely to persist across large parts of the country over the coming month, even in regions that have already seen rain.
This comes against a backdrop of an overall rainfall deficit: India had received 12 percent less rainfall than normal as of August 11, according to the India Meteorological Department( IMD).
For farmers, the timing matters particularly as the kharif season is
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