been defined simply as unusually low monsoon rainfall, in terms of: the driest ten per cent of years; deficits below the average of more than 20 per cent; larger deficits in some regions. Temporal changes in the frequency of these conditions across all 30year and 10-year periods are graphed and discussed for each region, and for All-India, and those periods with frequencies greater than might be expected at random are distinguished. Major contrasts in timing are demonstrated between the north-east and most of the rest of the country, with the far south-west not fitting into either category. The spatial pattern of temporal concentrations of drought occurrences are mapped, and the need is stressed to consider potential socioeconomic problems in India, if drought frequencies from the early part of this century were to return. OF ALL THE 'NATURAL' CATASTROPHES that affect life, economy and society in India it is drought, with its associated problems of water shortage and famine, that can be most widespread and all-pervasive. The vital role of summer monsoon rainfall (mainly in the four months June to September inclusive) has been appreciated throughout history, and the primary focus of so much meteorological and climatological research on India has been to assess, evaluate and ultimately forecast the intensity of this summer monsoon. This has stimulated a vast literature over the years concerned with Indian rainfall in general, and especially with marked deficits in such rainfall.
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Stanley V. Gregory (1989) studied this question.