The six revenue divisions through which Maharashtra's rainfall and drought are measured
Background
Maharashtra's rainfall and drought are assessed division by division, and the State's drought declaration of 265 of its 358 talukas rests on that division-wise picture.
The six revenue divisions used in the assessment are Konkan, Pune, Nashik, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Amravati and Nagpur.
Konkan is the coastal strip and recorded the smallest shortfall in the season behind the declaration, a deficit of 6.3 per cent.
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, the Marathwada division, recorded the worst deficit at 30.8 per cent, with 424.5 mm against a normal of 613.1 mm.
The Pune and Nashik divisions were each short by about 30 per cent, and Amravati and Nagpur, the two Vidarbha divisions, by 27 per cent.
Talukas are the units in which drought is declared, and Maharashtra has 358 of them.
The affected talukas in the declaration lie across 32 districts, from Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg on the coast to Chandrapur and Gadchiroli in the east.
Dharashiv and five other Marathwada districts fall within the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Division.
In plain words
Revenue division Administrative grouping of districts under a Divisional Commissioner — Maharashtra groups its districts into divisions, each headed by a Divisional Commissioner, for revenue and relief administration.
Marathwada The region around Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar — A historically drought-prone region of Maharashtra, administered through the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Division.