Marathwada is reeling under severe drought conditions. Water tables in the region have gone down and so has the water level in irrigation projects. Tankers are now pressed into service to provide drinking water. For Latur, railway wagons are being used to provide water.
The region, though having fertile land and many rivers criss-crossing the region, has been experiencing vagaries of monsoon and drought like conditions for quite some time. But for irrigation projects like Ujani, conceived and supervised by former chief minister Shankarrao Chavan, an expert in irrigation, the region would have suffered more. With the state government concentrating on Krishna valley projects to utilise as much water as possible before the deadline set up by the water tribunal, Marathwada region has been neglected during the last two decades.
However, it seems to be worst hit this time. Farmers’ suicide cases confined to the Vidharbha region have now spread to Marathwada as well.
Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis has taken note of the pathetic conditions prevailing and held a high level meeting of the Aurangabad division in order to review the water scarcity situation and to chalk out a time bound programme to provide relief to farmers and urban citizens in the region. Apart from being the divisional headquarter of the region, Aurangabad is an international tourist destination thanks to Ajanta and Ellora caves. As a result, the visitors are indirectly affected by drought.
NCP president Sharad Pawar was perhaps the first prominent leader to tour the drought affected areas and draw attention of authorities to the situation prevailing in Marathwada region. His visit evoked praise as well as severe criticism by the ruling party. The Shiv Sena and BJP leaders asked the reason for such a severe drought condition in the region and blamed Congress-NCP policies for the failure while Pawar blamed the government for ignoring the conditions and not rushing timely support to suffering farmers in the region. The CM will be holding a cabinet meeting in Aurangabad very soon to take review of steps taken so far. Shankarrao Chavan had held a cabinet meeting on similar lines in Konkan region but the tradition was given up as there was criticism against such cabinet meetings which involve immense spending, for the government to shift the entire secretariat to these venues.
The situation can be judged by the fact that only eight per cent of water is left in the Marathwada’s reservoirs, making it much more difficult to even provide drinking water to remote areas in the region. Loss of cattle due to lack of water and fodder is another serious matter affecting the morale of the farmers in the region. The state has initiated 27 measures to ensure supply of drinking water and fodder for cattle. The government has also announced a waiver of fees for school going students in the region. Seeding of clouds was undertaken to enhance rainfall in the region but the clouds which were fired at were unfortunately not rain clouds and the efforts failed to produce any tangible result.
The government does not want to depend totally on the bureaucratic set up to know the real situation in the region. The CM has asked the government officials to ensure that all Gramsabhas are held in all villages in the region and their reports about drought conditions be taken to help farmers. A direct approach like this should help the government take measures for speedy support to farmers. Under such circumstances, National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme should be implemented immediately with allocation of funds to give relief to needy people. However, the scheme is still wrapped up with red tape. The scheme is being enabled to be implemented on private farm ponds and wells so that more people would benefit from it.
No official data has been collected with regard to the effect of climatic changes on drought-prone areas of the state but it is high time that the state authorities, in consultation with observatories, collect data to give some information to farmers about vagaries of monsoon. In the last four years, the state has shown a successive increase in areas under drought as compared to other states in the country. Monsoon has become unpredictable with no set pattern. Maharashtra has been facing short spells of heavy rain rather than well distributed rains over the four months of monsoon resulting in hardships for farmers. Overall quantity of rains is the same, but change in pattern is a matter of worry for 90 lakh small and marginal farmers as they do not have much strength left to survive dry spells.
It may sound strange, but water required for cash crops, like sugarcane, is much more than what is required for farming and thus many irrigation projects once started, have remained incomplete for many years. Apart from creating water resources and supply systems under irrigation, the government must think in terms of changing the crop pattern and adjusting to the new scenario created due to unpredictable rains.
Unlike other states, in Maharashtra, 70 per cent of the irrigation resources are diverted for sugarcane which is just 9.4 per cent of the total crop area. As the number of sugarcane factories in cooperative sector has grown up mainly due to political reasons, sugarcane production has also increased by 10 per cent in recent years. As per official information, there were 601 incomplete projects despite Rs 82,609 crore being spent by the end of 2013. A performance audit shows 225 were under execution for more than 15 years and 77 were under execution for more than 30 years. These projects stop the natural flow of water and create new dry zones unless canal water is made available. More water is evaporated rather than getting absorbed in soil.
The situation in Marathwada is alarming but the state should not stop at merely taking half-hearted, ad hoc measures for the region. There is a need to take long term view of the entire state and redraw a plan to face the changing pattern of the monsoon. The state must put in place a system which can help store water during heavy rainfall which can be used during the dry spells. The state will cut a sorry figure unless something is planned properly for the future.
