The drought manual is expected to prove an effective practical guideline for administrators, experts and civil society in implementing drought mitigation and relief measures and for alleviating distress of the drought affected people.

The Department of Agriculture and Cooperation had requested the National Institute of Disaster Management to prepare a manual reflecting a comprehensive and coordinated approach to management of drought recommending measures, which need to be implemented for effective drought relief and mitigation. The manual is to draw upon the rich and diverse past experience of drought management and suggest an extensive list of procedures and measures required to be taken for alleviating the impact of drought.

India has witnessed 22 major droughts in the past 120 years and 7 droughts during the last three decades alone. Increased climate variability coupled with global warming has made rainfall pattern more inconsistent and unpredictable leading to increase in the recurrence of droughts and drought like situations. Apart from resultant fall in agricultural production , droughts have other multifarious long drawn impacts , such as shortage of drinking water, fodder, deficiency of water in dams/reservoirs for power generation severely affecting overall growth of the economy.#