Context: A particular report on Drought 2021, unveiled by the UN Business office for Catastrophe Chance Reduction (UNDRR) on Thursday, approximated the “impact of extreme droughts on India’s GDP to be about 2-5% per annum”, in spite of decreasing contribution of agriculture in the country’s expanding economy.

Key highlights of the report

• The study named Global Assessment Report (GAR) on Drought 2021 has looked into rising water stress across the globe and resulting migration and desertification.
• The experts, commissioned by UNDRR, conducted case studies in the Deccan Plateau, comprising 43% of India’s landmass.
• The Deccan region sees the highest frequency (of more than 6%) of severe droughts in all of India.
• Its cascading impact continues over the next several years.

In recent major droughts in Tamil Nadu, a 20% reduction in the primary sector caused an overall 5% drop in industry and a 3% reduction in the service sector.

• The study found “significant drought conditions” once in every three years in the Deccan Plateau leading to a large scale migration and desertification.
• Drought’s socio-economic impact and vulnerabilities are far more damaging to the sustainable development. A 5% loss of GDP is due to rising incidents of droughts.

About UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR)

• UNDRR (formerly UNISDR) is part of the United Nations Secretariat which supports the implementation and review of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.