Severe drought is declared if

Correct option is A

Introduction
· Drought is a prolonged period of abnormally low rainfall, leading to a shortage of water that adversely affects ecosystems, agriculture, and human activities.
· The India Meteorological Department (IMD) classifies meteorological droughts based on the percentage of rainfall deficiency compared to the Long Period Average (LPA) of a specific region.
· This classification helps the government and disaster management agencies in deploying relief funds and implementing water conservation strategies.

Information Booster

Deficit of rainfall is more than 50 percent of the normal is the criteria used by the IMD to define a "Severe Meteorological Drought."

When the actual rainfall received in an area is less than half of its historical average, the ecological and agricultural stress becomes critical, leading to significant crop failure and depletion of water tables.

This categorization is specific to the meteorological aspect, focusing purely on the volume of precipitation deficit.
· Severe Drought is marked by a rainfall deficiency exceeding 50% of the normal (LPA), indicating a high risk of total desertification and famine if prolonged.
· Moderate Drought is defined when the rainfall deficiency is between 26% and 50% of the normal.
· A "Drought Year" at the national level is declared when the area affected by drought exceeds 20% of the total area of the country.
· The IMD has recently shifted toward using the "Standardized Precipitation Index" (SPI) to better characterize the intensity and duration of droughts.

Additional Information
· Deficit varies between 25-45 percent falls under the category of Moderate Drought (which starts at 26%); while serious, it does not reach the "severe" threshold of 50%.
· Rainfall deficit exceeds 25 percent is the general threshold for declaring a Mild or Moderate Meteorological Drought; anything below a 25% deficit is usually considered "Normal" or "Near Normal" rainfall.
· Deficit between 15-25 percent is often categorized as "Slightly Deficient" or a "Normal" variation in many regional meteorological standards and does not qualify for a drought declaration.