Maharashtra: Most drought-hit district has least tankers, yet villagers aren't cribbing

Acute shortage of water has seen deployment of 144 tankers in Parbhani, 572 in Aurangabad, 339 in Jalna, 632 in Beed, 218 in Latur, 22 in Hingoli and 282 in Nanded.

Solapur, the most chronically drought-hit district in Maharashtra, which saw 250 tankers being deployed even during good monsoon in 2013-14, has a mere 16.

But most villagers have no complaints and district collector Tukaram Mundhe explains why. "I could continue to spend thousands of crores of rupees on water tankers, like my predecessors. But that won't solve the problem. We want villages to have water on a reliable, sustainable basis -- one which they own and feel proud of. I want them to be independent."

The earth-moving machines across Solapur are a symbol of that 'independence movement'.

"From last year, we began to aggressively push area treatment and contour bunding, soil and water conservation through continuous contour trenches, gully plugging, nullah bunding, cement nullah bunds, recharging shallow wells, bore wells and hand pumps, de-silting and maintenance of old minor irrigation tanks, percolation tanks and community tanks," Mundhe lists the activities.

Isn't that a lot? "Exactly," he laughs. "Expecting the government alone to do this is impractical. We took people into confidence and convinced them to join hands with us."

It wasn't easy. And hugely unpopular to begin with. People were told that government funds would be provided to reinforce worn-out bunds and small check dams only if canals and streams were de-silted and widened.

"The numbers began as a trickle, but once people saw the change themselves, we didn't need to do much," he said.

Like in Sangola tehsil, which has been in the headlines for being the most drought-prone area over two decades. Here, in villages like Junoni, tankers were needed year-long till last year. Now, they are not needed at all. Local wells have plenty of water.

"We rigorously enforced contour trenching and bunding and de-silting of local ponds throughout the tehsil and covered 81 of the 103 villages," points out local tehsildar Shrikant Patil.

The results are there for all to see. Despite as little as 200 mm rain in the last monsoon, all water was stopped and it percolated into the ground replenishing aquifers, the ground water and the wells.

"Now villagers living downstream are complaining that their borewells are running dry, while our traditional open wells on higher ground have enough water," shows off local resident and gram sabha member Babasaheb Todkari.

Not only do wells and hand pumps have adequate water, pomegranate orchards look lush despite being on drip irrigation. "Recharged ground water helps not only the pomegranates, but gave us over 22 sack loads of jowar per acre in the last season from the same land, which yielded even two sack loads until now," gloats Todkari.

Further down the road to Sangola, locals, NGOs and the government have partnered to de-silt the 160-km- long Manganga river, a tributary of the Bhima. "Silting is choking the river after it turns north-east through Sangola and Pandharpur, leaving it bone dry," points out tehsildar Patil, "This is being done under technical supervision by NGOs and locals."

The eagerness of farmers to help the administration in de-silting water bodies, nullahs and canals has also to do with one huge benefit – alluvial soil. "Much better than any fertiliser, it changes the quality of top soil and can help us grow pomegranates, groundnuts, wheat, sweet potatoes, onions, and, in some cases, even watermelons," says Dashrath Patil of Malwadi village, who hired a tractor and trailer to get several sorties to his field.

Some in Solapur district feel differently. Among them is 12-year-old Manoj Pawar of Hanjagi village in the south-eastern tehsil of Akkalkot.

Nearly 140 km from the Ujani dam, upstream across Bhima river, his village of 4,000 residents are forced to drink from muddy holes in the ground the seven wells - in what can be called the epicentre of the drought - have been reduced to.

"The collectorate has abandoned us. Our demand for even one tanker in a fortnight has been turned down," complained Hanjagi sarpanch Umesh Govind Patil,

"People nowadays mock me calling me the sarpanch of drought." His old septuagenarian aunt has been sick for a month. "Seeing how I cut corners to arrange for bottled water for her from the store at the neighbouring village, Karjale, 5 kms away, she often prays that she dies."

But surely, he can get political representatives to lobby for tankers. "I wrote to our MLA Siddharam Mhetre and MP Sharad Bansode. The former hasn't responded while the latter simply came for a whirlwind visit past 8 pm a month ago, when nothing could be seen, gave speeches and left."

When asked about contour bunding and trenching or JYS scheme, Patil is livid. "Will you give a man dying of malaria quinine or a lecture on sanitation to keep mosquitoes in check?" He insists villagers have no money to spend on the JYS work.

Mundhe says it's not about monetary contribution alone. "Why can't they contribute with shramdaan like other villages?" he says and points out: "I'm merely implementing the Maharashtra Groundwater (Development & Management) Act 2009, which has been around for seven years."