Rajasthan declares drought in 80 tehsils across 14 districts

The Rajasthan disaster management, relief and civil defence department released two alerts on Oct. 24 and 25, declaring 80 tehsils in fourteen districts drought-affected. Using criteria from the Centre’s Drought Management Manual, 69 tehsils were labeled severely affected and 11 moderately affected, with the status lasting six months. The first alert covered 53 tehsils across 13 districts; the follow-up added 27 tehsils in ten districts, including Bikaner.

Jodhpur tops the list with twelve affected tehsils, while Barmer and Jalore each have ten. The assessment cited deficient monsoon rainfall—350.83 mm versus a normal 424.71 mm—and low dam storage, especially in the Jodhpur zone where capacity fell to 15.98% of last year’s level.