Despite floods, parts of Maharashtra reeling under drought-like conditions

While lakhs of displaced residents of Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur and other neighbouring areas are trying hard to gather their lives together after being hit by the devastating floods, the residents of the Beed district in the Marathwada region are reeling under severe drought-like conditions.

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Monsoon has hit Maharashtra hard this year, not just because of excess rains, but also due to lack of it. While lakhs of displaced residents of Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur and other neighbouring areas are trying hard to gather their lives together after being hit by the devastating floods, the residents of the Beed district in the Marathwada region are reeling under severe drought-like conditions. Such is the rain deficiency in the Beed district that the dam supplying water to the people has nearly dried up leaving the civic body officials in a fix.

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"It is the Monsoon season but we haven’t seen a drop of water in the region. Our crops are suffering, and without rains, we won’t be able to save them. And this has been the condition of the dam in this district for the last three years. We have been suffering for years," says a Ramesh Jadhav a resident of Beed.

Another resident Annasram Alaat presented even more gloomy scenario. In a-matter-of-fact tone he said, "Those who have individual capacity manage their cattle somehow but most of the people are not able to manage cattle because of the drought conditions. In fact, this year, many even sold their cattle fearing the worst."

"If it rains then we will see what can be done in future else things are going to get worse from here," Annasram Alaat added.

Reports suggest the Beed district received just 128 mm rainfall this season whereas it should have received around 500 mm till now. Majalgaon dam supplies water to Beed district and Khadka barrage provides water to Parli. But little rains has meant that the dams have dried up which has only compounded the problems of the people.

When India Today TV asked the local people how they were managing their water needs, the answer that came was shocking to say the least.

"We get water once in eight to 10 days. At times it stretches to 15 days well. There are many villages that haven’t had water for a very long time," said a local resident.

Shiraz Faiz Kazi, another resident, says, We haven’t seen tap water in a long time. We survive at the mercy of the tankers which comes once in a week so we have to survive somehow with that water."

In the Parli area of Beed, which is incidentally the constituency of state minister Pankaja Munde, people have been surviving on tank water for more than three months. The mere sight of the water tanker makes the people impatient.

The deficient rainfall has affected kharif sowing in the state. Reports say more than 80 lakh farmers have been affected with drought-like conditions in many parts. In many areas the state government is planning cloud seeding as well to tackle the crisis arisen out of deficient rains.

Reports suggest that an amount of Rs 30 crores has already been allocated for this purpose. Aurangabad, Solapur and Ahmednagar are already on the radar of the government. In fact, a few days back a C 90 place took off from the Aurangabad airport for this purpose. The residents of Parli say that cloud seeding is their only hope now.