Abstract:
Punjab has a large canal network providing irrigation to its fertile plains. Food grain production is large in the state. Over the years, the irrigated area has expanded with increase in groundwater utilization. Due to semi arid climate, replenishable groundwater resource is limited in the state. Global and regional phenomena e.g. ENSO, EQUINO further influence the weather and reduce the rainfall in certain years. Several years face drought of varying intensity. Suitable planning is required to combat the droughts. Drought characterization is important for water resources planning in drought mitigation. Several drought indices are used to characterize drought. SPI (Standardized Precipitation Index) is based on precipitation data alone and uses data of various scales e.g. monthly, quarterly, half yearly etc. Based on the index value, drought is classified as moderate or severe. Further criteria are defined to compute start and end of drought events, their magnitudes etc. In this study, drought events were identified and their magnitudes were computed for two districts, namely Bathinda and Patiala in Punjab.
