Ready to risk anything for water - Part I

The state has drawn extreme plans for the extreme crisis, including transporting water through rail wagons or shifting entire villages in Jalna, the district worst hit with rainfall less than 25 per cent of normal. The crisis there extends beyond the rural interiors and up to Jalna city. The city has 45 water supply zones, and one, two or three of these (depending on size) are supplied municipal council water on any day. "This effectively means that people get water in their taps once every 20 days, for not more than an hour. People hoard up as much water as they can and, once that runs out, turn to private tankers," says Rajesh More, engineer in the Jalna Municipal Council's water supply department. He too depends on private tankers at home.

Tankers provided by the government visit Walki and Gunavadi villages in Ahmadnagar, the state's largest district, once every four days and pour water into the village wells. Valmik Nagavade, sarpanch of Gunavdi, says the allotment is based on the 2001 census. "We get 20 litres per person based on the 2001 census but our families have grown in those 12 years," he says. "We bathe on alternate days with just two litres."

TOMORROW: AGRICULTURE AND LIVESTOCK

Rain check

7,064 of 43,722 villages declared drought-hit

Less than 25% rainfall: 5 talukas out of 355, including those in Jalna district

25-50%: 50 talukas

50-75%: 136 talukas, including those in Dhule, Jalgaon, Ahmadnagar, Pune, Solapur, Sangli, Aurangabad, Beed, Osmanabad, Nanded districts

5-year low: Storage levels in reservoirs

ALSO READ

Infiltration bid foiled near LOC, two army men die in ambush

5 differently abled orphan girls beaten, raped in Jaipur residential school

India to convey concerns over Ladakh incursion to Chinese Premier

Protests in parts of Karnataka over denial of ministership