Parched Vidarbha gears up for the worst drought

Parched Vidarbha gears up for the worst drought
VIVEK DESHPANDE

NAGPUR, APRIL 2: * In a locality in Warud in Amravati district -- known for its oranges -- 100-odd women struggle every day to inch forward in a queue to get to a privately-owned tap. Cursing the administration and thanking Bhawanbhai Patel, the owner of the tap, they count on their luck, as, in less than two hours, this tap too goes dry.

* At Khadka village in the district on MP border, the situation is worse. With all the borewells gone dry and no tankers forthcoming, the 1,000-odd residents are at the mercy of a few villagers whose farm wells still have some water. Womenfolk scratching out water by tumblers from sinking holes kilometres away is a common sight.

* And the 4,000 residents of another border village Jamgaon are surviving on the largesse of a well-wisher from across the border who is a friend of the sarpanch. He is providing them with water from his borewell. In a few days, the lone source will also dry out.

This is just the beginning of a story which will get grimmer with the notorious Vidarbha summer singing the region. If this is the situation in Warud, one shudders to think what it must be in Melghat, the traditional water-scarcity area in Amravati district, and Sindkhed Raja in Buldana district.

The scene in Nagpur division is no different.

This time round, the scarcity scare runs deeper, what with a long hot spell awaiting the region already reeling because of a truncated rainy season.

The crisis in Amravati division worse. The kharif crop is not much while there's is little hope of the rabi yield. The final kharif paisewari (an index of shortfall in production) in 7,248 of 7,349 villages and towns in the district being less than 50, the entire division has been declared scarcity-hit. Rabi sowings have been done only on 1,78,700 of the total 3,61,000 hectares in all the five districts. In Buldana, of the 1,21,300 hectares available, sowing operations have been reported only on 41,400 hectares. With the water table sinking -- currently at 800-900 feet -- the Warud farmers are seriously thinking of quitting orange cultivation.

Amravati divisional administration has announced a rebate totalling Rs 61 lakh in land revenue for farmers. More than Rs 13 crore will be spent on water supply from October last to June this year. Crops loans, breather in payment of electricity bills, supply of agricultural pumps and rebate in power to small and marginal farmers are the other measures.

In Nagpur division, kharif paisewari for 3,954 out of 8,686 villages is below 50. According to Deputy Commissioner (Development) A R Shaikh, of the 5,776 measures proposed for 3,294 villages, 2,564 have been sanctioned and 562 have so far been implemented. Nine tankers have so far been provided to 14 villages.

But statistics do not tell the real story. The Ramthi village in Nagpur district has been experiencing water crunch from January to June for decades now. But no permanent water supply scheme has been put in place. Says Tukaram Khawse: "A proposal for reservoir has been gathering dust for the last ten years. A well is being built a few kilometres away from where water will be supplied to Ramthi by a pipeline. But a miscreant from another village created a breach." Sarpanch Manohar Manmode is making rounds of the offices concerned. It was only three days ago that tankers were pressed into service. After a moderate kharif crop, the villagers have virtually nothing to do during the rabi season what with half the year going without water. "There are no EGS works too," says Lalita, Sarpanch's wife.

Interestingly, the village is just a stone's throw away from the native village of State Minister Anil Deshmukh and ex-minister Ranjeet Deshmukh.

According to Deputy Commissioner (EGS) M.V. Hiwanj, 1,31,483 labourers are working on 1,458 EGS works in Nagpur division. In Amravati, 30,106 workers are employed currently on 1,367 jobs.

Most EGS works are on in Gondia (456) and Amravati (505) districts, which broadly means that these are worst-hit.

"People normally want soil work. If there is a khadi (stone) job, they are reluctant," says Hiwanj.

Dilip Bhoyar, who has been battling with the administration for water for his Dhanodi village in Warud, however, claims that low wages is the reason why people don't prefer to work in the searing heat. "Moreover, there are problems with the crop insurance scheme too. Officials say they will first decide the cut-off production (umbartha) and then decide the insurance," he says.

Bhoyar, a Shetkari Sanghata leader, points out that absence of permanent water supply schemes is the root cause of problems. "After crying hoarse for one since years, my village may get water from Upper Wardha project next year," he says.

Spending crores on patent measures such as sinking of existing wells and digging of new ones, tankers, acqusition of private wells and repairs of the defunct ones in every crisis season is a classic case of `digging well when thirsty'. Moreover, with water tables depleting fast, the measures fail to yield the desired results.