Andhra declares drought in 388 mandals after a 53.4 percent rain deficit

Andhra Pradesh declared drought in 388 of its 688 mandals on 1 October, covering 21 of the state's 26 districts. Of the 388, the revenue department classed 283 as severe and 105 as moderate. The order came from the Revenue (Disaster Management) Department as an early assessment for the 2026 Kharif season, after a committee on drought met on 30 September.

The rainfall figure in the order is the one that forces the declaration. Between 1 June and 31 August the state received 197.6 millimetres on average, against a normal 424.3 millimetres for those three months. That is a deficit of 53.4 percent. The government cited the deficit and El Nino conditions, and used the indicators in the Government of India's Manual for Drought Management, 2016. It had planned to finish the Kharif declaration by 31 October. It moved the date forward.

The Indian Express, reporting the order, listed the districts: Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli, Kakinada, East Godavari, Eluru, Krishna, NTR, Guntur, Bapatla, Palnadu, Prakasam, Markapuram, Kurnool, Nandyal, Ananthapuramu, Sri Sathyasai, YSR Kadapa, Annamayya and Chittoor. Srikanth Reddy, cited in the Financial Express account, said 186 of the 388 declared mandals are in Rayalaseema, and 159 of the 283 severe mandals are in that region. Rayalaseema is the dry interior. A severe-drought count that concentrates there fits the rainfall map. A list that also includes East Godavari, Krishna and Guntur means the deficit is not confined to the interior.

A mandal is the unit the manual uses for a declaration, below the district and above the village. Declaring 388 of 688 means more than half the state's mandals meet the threshold. The split of 283 severe and 105 moderate is what decides the scale of relief: input subsidy, fodder, drinking water tankers, and the employment days a district can claim. The order is an early assessment, not the final crop-cutting result. Farmers in a severe mandal can cite it when they ask for loan rescheduling. Insurers cite it when they set the payout on a weather policy.

The 53.4 percent figure is June to August, not the full South-West monsoon, which runs into September. An early declaration on a three-month deficit leaves open the chance that September rain narrowed the gap in some mandals and widened it in others. The committee met on 30 September, so it had September in view even if the published average stops at 31 August. The order does not print a September number.

What the declaration changes this week is administrative, not meteorological. Collectors in the 21 districts can move contingency funds against a notified list instead of waiting for a case-by-case finding. The five districts left off the list are the ones that did not meet the manual's test on this assessment. Their absence is as specific as the 21 names. Rayalaseema's 159 severe mandals are where the tanker and fodder demand will show first, because that is where the order itself puts the weight.