Page 137 - Haryana Water Resources Atlas 2025

Agriculture Drought Frequency (2001 - 2020)

drought refers to a period during which an area or region experiences precipitation levels below the normal average. Insufficient
rainfall or snowfall can result in depleted soil moisture, reduced Ground Water levels, decreased stream flow, crop impairments, N
Aand an overall scarcity of water resources.
W E
Figure 93 depicts the frequency of agricultural drought in Haryana over the past 20 years i.e., from 2001 to 2020. Severe drought
frequency of more than 13 is observed in certain areas of Bhiwani district. Parts of Bhiwani, Fatehabad, Mahendragarh, and Sirsa
districts fall within the frequency range of 10-12. The frequency of 7 to 9 is predominantly observed in the western and southern districts, S
including Bhiwani, Charki Dadri, Hisar, Jhajjar, Jind, Kaithal, Mahendragarh, Rewari, and Sirsa. Central and parts of southern Haryana Scale
mainly experience drought frequencies between 4 to 6, with Kaithal, Jhajjar, and Palwal being the major areas in this category. The Kms
northeastern and some southern parts of the state have a drought frequency of less than 3, with Panchkula, Yamunanagar, Kurukshetra, 0 12.5 25 50 75 100
Panipat, Sonipat, and Faridabad covering the largest areas within this frequency range in Table 71.

In Figure 93 it can clearly observed that the western zone of Haryana is more
prone to droughts as opposed to the eastern zone owing to its climatic conditions.
Further, the North east zone of Haryana is least susceptible to draughts as
compared to rest of the region, and this part of Haryana share its boundary with
Uttar Pradesh. Furthermore, the extreme west region is most susceptible to
droughts and this part of Haryana also shares its boundary with Rajasthan. Using
this map frequency of droughts can be represented for inclusively reallocating
water resources assimilating with demands. These sorts of maps reinforce drought
prediction at early stages which can prove beneficial for handling feasible
agricultural losses and avoiding/minimizing related socio-economic effects.
Moreover, it facilitates the logical design of future agricultural plans and the
improvement of stronger crop insurance policies. Further, higher drought
frequency has been observed in southern and western parts in contrast to the
northern and eastern region.

Table 71. District-wise Agriculture Drought Frequency (2001 – 2020)

Source: HARSAC/ GIS Based
Figure 93. Agriculture Drought Frequency (2001 - 2020) Data Source-HARSAC

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