Maharashtra Declares 265 Talukas Drought-Affected

27 September 2026National

Maharashtra declared 265 of its 358 talukas drought-affected on 26 September 2026, covering roughly 74% of the state's landmass, following a review of rainfall, sowing and water-storage data. A drought declaration is the trigger for relief measures such as revenue-recovery suspension, crop loan restructuring, fee concessions and drinking-water supply by tanker, and it also opens the route to central assistance from the National Disaster Response Fund. The scale of the declaration underlines how uneven the 2026 monsoon has been across the Deccan plateau, where the rain-shadow districts of Marathwada and western Maharashtra are chronically drought-prone.

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Maharashtra has 36 districts and 358 talukas; its capital is Mumbai | Marathwada and parts of western Maharashtra lie in the rain shadow of the Western Ghats | The Disaster Management Act, 2005 created the NDRF and SDRF financing structure

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