Andhra declares drought in 21 districts after a 53.4 percent rain deficit

Andhra Pradesh has declared an early drought for the 2026 kharif season in 21 of its 26 districts. The order, from the Revenue (Disaster Management) Department on 1 October, covers 388 of 688 mandals. Of those, 283 are classed as severely affected and 105 as moderately affected. The state did not wait for the 31 October deadline in the central drought manual.

The rainfall figure in the order is plain. From 1 June to 31 August the state received 197.6 millimetres against a normal 424.3 millimetres, a deficit of 53.4 percent. The order cites El Niño and says the declaration uses drought indicators for June to August under the Government of India's Manual for Drought Management, 2016. A committee on drought met on 30 September and recommended the early call.

Which districts, and where the damage sits

The 21 districts named in the order are Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli, Kakinada, East Godavari, Eluru, Krishna, NTR, Guntur, Bapatla, Palnadu, Prakasam, Markapuram, Kurnool, Nandyal, Ananthapuramu, Sri Sathya Sai, YSR Kadapa, Annamayya and Chittoor. The five districts left off the list are the ones that did not meet the threshold on the June-August indicators. Rayalaseema carries a disproportionate share. Opposition figures citing the order said 186 of the 388 drought mandals are in Rayalaseema, and 159 of the 283 severe mandals are there too.

YSR Congress leaders asked why the declaration came in October rather than in August, when borewells were already failing. One claim in that argument, that nearly seven lakh borewells had dried by August and that mango and citrus orchards were on tanker water, is an opposition figure, not a number in the government order. The order itself does not count dead borewells or withered trees. It counts mandals and rainfall.

What an early declaration opens, and what it does not

Under the 2016 manual, a drought declaration is the gate for relief: input subsidy, fodder, drinking water, and rescheduling of crop loans. An early declaration lets the state start that paperwork before the official season-end date. It does not, by itself, move cash. The order proposes the declaration. Release of funds still depends on assessment of crop loss, which the manual ties to later field checks, and on what the state and the Centre actually budget.

The timing also limits what the numbers can say. A June-August deficit of 53.4 percent is a failed first half of the monsoon. September and early October rain, if it arrived, is not in this order. Farmers who planted late, or who were waiting on a September revival, are inside a declaration built on data that stops on 31 August. That is the trade the committee made on 30 September: speed against a fuller season picture.

The next document that matters

The useful follow-up is not another speech about El Niño. It is the mandal-level crop-loss table, and the date money reaches the 283 severe mandals. Until those two exist, the 1 October order is a classification: 388 mandals, 21 districts, 197.6 millimetres against 424.3. Rayalaseema's share of the severe list is the geographic fact. The borewell claim remains an allegation until the water department counts the wells.