15 years after delimitation, water continues to fuel Madha’s politics

Water has remained a constant poll pitch in the Madha parliamentary constituency since it was created from delimitation in 2009

PUNE: Water has remained a constant poll pitch in the Madha parliamentary constituency since it was created from delimitation in 2009. That year, when Sharad Pawar contested the polls he had promised to bring the life essential to the water shadow region. 15 years later, Narendra Modi raked up the issue on Tuesday, taking a dig at Pawar.

15 years on, water continues to fuel Madha’s politics

The drought-prone constituency, spread over Solapur and Satara districts in western Maharashtra, depends on rainfall in Pune region which flows into the Bhima river through Ujani dam.

Around 20 lakh people in Madha get water (both potable and for agriculture) from Ujani and Nira-Devdhar dams. The state’s second largest dam in Ujani was built in 1980 on Bhima river in Solapur district with a capacity of 120 TMC. Of this, almost 60 TMC was diverted for cash crops like sugarcane (in 7 lakh hectares), which led to a severe crisis in Pandharpur, Madha, Mangalwedha, Malshiras and Akkalkot.

Locals allege the region -- known to produce jowar, gram, sugarcane, grapes, pomegranates, wheat, maize and bajara -- remains cursed with unequal distribution of water due to vote bank politics.

The Nira-Deoghar dam, completed in 2007 with a capacity of 32 TMC water, was meant to supply water to farmers in Satara and Solapur region. However, between 2009 and 2017, 60% of the dam water was supplied to Baramati and the remaining 40% to Solapur. While the sugarcane farms of Baramati were being watered, neighbouring districts of Solapur and Satara were not getting enough even for drinking.

In 2019, attempts were made to set things right by the BJP government under the leadership of Ranjeetsinh Nimbalkar, sitting MP of Madha, leading to Solapur receiving 60% of the water share, which rankled farmers of Baramati and Indapur leading to many agitations.

Meanwhile, BJP had managed to resolve the crisis only partially, as Madha remained drought prone due to paucity of rain.

After Madha was formed, in the very first elections NCP supremo Sharad Pawar won by defeating Subhash Deshmukh of BJP by almost 3.10 lakh votes. At the time he assured voters that he will solve their water problems permanently. He failed to deliver even when he became the agriculture minister.

On Tuesday, deputy chief minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis touched upon Pawar’s unfulfilled promises in the past. “Opponents in every election have been making fresh commitments on old promises. Citizens sent Ranjeetsinh to Delhi for the first time and you got water. Now, don’t worry – we are committed to solve the issue in 36 drought prone villages,” Fadnavis said in a public rally.

“Our opponents closed the Krushna-Bhima Stabilization scheme due to non-availability of water. But once I became the chief minister, work to divert excessive flood water of Krushna river to Ujani dam started, which helps the drought prone regions in Madha,” he added.

And yet, there remains a huge gap between demand and supply from the Bhima basin, say experts. Water expert and founder of Maharashtra Vikas Kendra Anil Patil said water distribution should follow the River Basin Organisation principle. There are around 400 participants in the Water Users Association (WUA) formed by farmers, as part of the Maharashtra Water Resources Regulatory Authority Act, 2005. Under the act, farmers should get water committed by the irrigation department according to their usage. This, however, remains on paper.

“To solve this burning issue, government should regulate water in the Bhima river basin by activating the existing Namami Chandrabhaga Pradhikaran, which highlights the way in which water from Chandrabhaga river (from where the dams draw water) can be managed. It will also give transparency to water distribution,” said Patil.