Pragnya IAS · Map 51 · Climate & environment
India: drought-prone areas map study
See drought as a rainfall-variability problem concentrated in the rain-shadow and arid west.
STUDY NOTE 1
The drought arc
A broad arc from Rajasthan and Gujarat through the leeward Deccan (Marathwada, Vidarbha, interior Karnataka, Rayalaseema, rain-shadow Tamil Nadu) covers most drought-prone districts.
STUDY NOTE 2
Variability, not just scarcity
Meteorological drought is declared on rainfall deficiency; agricultural drought follows soil-moisture failure. Low-rainfall regions with high variability are the most vulnerable.
STUDY NOTE 3
Bundelkhand’s lesson
Even moderate-rainfall regions like Bundelkhand suffer recurrent drought when variability, hard rock aquifers and poverty coincide.
Map reading task
Outline the drought arc and explain in two sentences why Rayalaseema appears on it.
Map key · Reference locations
What does this india: drought-prone areas lesson explain?
A broad arc from Rajasthan and Gujarat through the leeward Deccan (Marathwada, Vidarbha, interior Karnataka, Rayalaseema, rain-shadow Tamil Nadu) covers most drought-prone districts.
UPSC map practice & Geography Optional connection
For UPSC Prelims, pair the location with its state, neighbouring relief and relevant geographic process. For GS I and Geography Optional Indian geography revision, use a simple labelled sketch to explain the relationship rather than replacing the answer with place names. These are Pragnya-authored exercises, not official UPSC previous-year questions.
References & map credits
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