Estimating Drought Severity in Maharashtra using Standard Precipitation Index

Drought is a natural condition caused by the long absence of precipitation. One of the most serious major disasters that affect both humans and animals and the effects of this disaster are being made worse by the increase in water demand and the instability of weather conditions brought on by climate change. As an outcome, drought hydrology has drawn strong interest. In this study, the drought severity during the period 1988 – 2021 analyzed in the state of Maharashtra, which is in central India and is most prone to periodic droughts. Meteorological stations provide the spatial and temporal precipitation data of the region needed for the analysis of the drought. This study evaluate the short and longterm Standardized Precipitation Index based upon monthly precipitation data obtained from meteorological stations, to monitor dryness in twelve different districts of Maharashtra. The approach is to analyze the Standard Precipitation Index from the monthly rainfall data of these districts from the period 1988 -2021 and evaluate the severity of the drought pattern in these regions. The SPI value of each district for 1, and 3 timescales for short-term drought while 12 and 36 timescales for long-term drought assessment were calculated for the comparison study. According to a seasonal study, there is a higher probability of extreme drought in the Summer and Rabi seasons than during the Kharif seasons. According to the result, Ahmednagar, Beed, Osmanabad, Aurangabad and Jalna were identified as the most drought-prone districts. Among all the districts Ahmednagar district has the lowest precipitation.