El Nino monsoon threat looms over 80 percent of Telangana villages in Vanakalam 2026

The Telangana State Government on Thursday released its Contingency Plan for Vanakalam 2026, warning that an impending agricultural crisis triggered by poor El Nino monsoon rainfall will hit 80 percent of villages across the state, with severe impacts projected for districts including Khammam, KB Asifabad, Vikarabad, and Nalgonda.

According to the official report, a total of 8,831 villages are projected to be either moderately affected or highly vulnerable due to the predicted deficit in monsoon rain during the upcoming kharif crop season. The remaining 2,298 villages in the state are also expected to experience the fallout of the dry spell, though to a lesser extent.

The government's hydro-climatic assessment classified Telangana's districts into four distinct zones: severely dry, moderately dry, mildly dry, and mildly wet.

Vikarabad and Nalgonda districts emerged as the hardest hit in the moderately affected category, with each district containing 468 villages facing water stress. Meanwhile, Khammam registered the highest number of vulnerable villages at 189, followed by KB Asifabad district with 151 vulnerable villages.

In the "severely dry" category, Nirmal district has 300 moderately affected villages, while Hanamkonda has 92 moderately affected and 69 vulnerable villages.

Among the "moderately dry" districts, Adilabad has 486 moderately affected and 15 vulnerable villages. Nizamabad has 383 moderately affected and 42 vulnerable villages, while Mancherial has 335 moderately affected villages. Karimnagar has 151 moderately affected and 56 vulnerable villages, and Warangal has 134 moderately affected and 52 vulnerable villages.

In the "mildly dry" zone, Sangareddy recorded 564 moderately affected villages, Kamareddy recorded 428, and Yadadri Bhuvanagiri recorded 322 moderately affected villages. Nagarkurnool was the only district classified as "mildly wet," with 347 moderately affected villages and no vulnerable villages.

The state government released these figures to prepare local agricultural communities and administrative bodies for the anticipated drought-like conditions during the Vanakalam season.