With rainfall failing across swathes of Maharashtra this monsoon season, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has moved the state's full drought-response machinery into action — issuing a Government Resolution on 26 September 2026 that triggers 12 relief measures for 265 talukas hit hardest by the deficiency, spanning every revenue division from Thane to Nagpur.

Trigger-1 fires across six revenue divisions

The resolution invokes Trigger-1 — the first formal threshold — under Maharashtra's Drought Management Code, 2016, the state's graded framework for assessing and responding to rainfall shortfalls. Panchanamas (official field surveys) covering crop conditions, GPS coordinates, and photographic evidence are now being conducted in all 265 talukas to build the evidentiary record required before crop-loss compensation can follow. The division-wise spread tells the story of where the drought bites deepest: 74 talukas in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Division (the Marathwada heartland), 56 in Amravati Division (Vidarbha's agrarian belt), 39 in Nagpur Division, 49 in Nashik Division, 35 in Pune Division, and 12 in Thane Division.

Fadnavis noted that he personally toured drought-affected farmers' fields, inspected crop damage, and heard directly from cultivators before directing the government to act. District Collectors have been ordered to begin panchanamas immediately.

The 12 measures: from loan freezes to tankers

The relief package spans financial, utility, education, and welfare dimensions. On the financial side, it includes a concession in land revenue, restructuring of crop loans, and a stay on recovery of agriculture-related loans. Electricity bills for agricultural pump sets above 7.5 horsepower will receive a concession — those up to that capacity have already been waived. The package also waives examination fees for school and college students in affected talukas and relaxes MNREGA norms to maximise the number of works that can be taken up, providing immediate wage income to rural households.

On the ground-level survival side, the government has mandated tanker deployment wherever drinking water is scarce, a ban on disconnecting electricity to agricultural pumps in water-scarce villages, guaranteed supply of foodgrains for farmers and agricultural labourers, arrangements to ensure adequate fodder for livestock, and dedicated water conservation and drinking-water planning works. The Revenue Department, Agriculture Department, and all field agencies have been directed to coordinate with sensitivity and maintain active communication at the taluka level.

Marathwada and Vidarbha at the core — a familiar pattern

Maharashtra's rain-fed agriculture has long made the state one of India's most drought-vulnerable. The Marathwada and Vidarbha regions in particular — together accounting for 130 of the 265 affected talukas — have suffered recurring monsoon failures that push farmers into debt distress and trigger waves of rural hardship. The 2016 Drought Management Code was designed precisely to replace ad hoc responses with a structured, trigger-based system: survey first, compensate with verified data, prevent panic procurement and tanker corruption. The current activation follows that established sequence faithfully.

Crucially, the government has separated immediate relief from crop-loss compensation. A separate Government Resolution on crop-loss assistance will follow only after panchanamas are complete — a deliberate sequencing meant to ensure accuracy over speed. The Revenue and Agriculture departments have been tasked with conducting those surveys 'meticulously', per the Chief Minister's directive.

With the survey clock now running and field teams deployed across six divisions, the real test is delivery speed — because in a drought year, every day of delay is a day of loss farmers absorb alone.