A Monsoon Plan For Marathwada

Away from the national news cycles, the entire Marathwada region of Maharashtra, comprising eight districts, has been battling intense rainfall and devastating floods in the past week. At least 90 people have been recorded dead, with a few deaths occurring over the weekend; nearly 30 lakh acres of farmland stand damaged, with large swathes of soyabean and cotton affected; livestock affected; and infrastructure across the regions is in shambles. The Devendra Fadnavis-led government pulled out all stops to evacuate more than 11,500 people to safe shelters and began emergency relief measures, directing district collectors to be on the ground. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Force teams have been at work too.

This is the second time in five years that the semi-arid and drought-prone region of Marathwada is living through monsoon fury and devastating floods. The vagary in the weather is seen in the excess rainfall recorded: as many as 189 of the region’s 489 revenue circles showed excess rainfall in only 24 hours over the weekend, adding to the incessant rainfall since September 20 and monsoon fury in July-August. The highest 24-hour precipitation was a staggering 196 mm in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. The floods worsened after massive amounts of water had to be released from Jayakwadi Dam, the region's largest reservoir, which led to rising levels in the Godavari River. The state’s relief package of Rs 2,215 crore is being rolled out but has come under criticism by the opposition as being too little, and veteran leaders like Sharad Pawar have called for the easing of the panchanama, or damage assessment process.

However timely the relief and rescue measures, and whatever the size of the relief package, the Marathwada floods send a powerful signal: it cannot be business as usual hereafter. The authorities must move from the responsive to the proactive mode. While each district—Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Jalna, Latur, Parbhani, Nanded, Hingoli, Beed and Dharashiv—presents a slightly different situation, the overarching impact of climate change-related impact on the region’s weather must be addressed. The increasingly unpredictable phenomenon of drought, floods and ‘wet drought’, as peculiar outcomes of climate-related changes in weather patterns, calls for long-term preparedness. This means preparing detailed flood and drought maps for each district with the latest technological tools, such as Synthetic Aperture Radar, which can yield high-resolution maps; making comprehensive evacuation plans and assembling emergency supply kits publicised through the year; charting out an information protocol and disseminating drought or flood warnings through all media; allocating a larger portion of the state’s annual budget for such work; and so on. But the crux lies, as in other parts of the world, on the overall preparedness to make the region’s people, agriculture, and infrastructure as climate-resilient as possible so that the floods or 'wet drought' wreak less havoc in the future.