Photos: 90% of Marathwada in drought, 100% apathy claim residents

Apr 04, 2019 12:32 IST

Women in Mardi village in Jalna, Maharashtra line up with water vessels near a borewell in hopes of fetching water. Sakhubai Ghule, 55, a resident of nearby Nandi village, makes her way to the common well before sunrise every day. It is her only hope of getting a bucket of muddy water from the nearly dry well. She gets half a bucket. (Pratik Chorge / HT Photo)

As summer sets in, drought conditions and acute water scarcity in central Maharashtra’s Marathwada region are getting worse. Drought is not new to the region, which has seen three droughts in four years. (Pratik Chorge / HT Photo)

Young women fetch water from farm wells that are at least two kilometres away from their homes at Nandi village. The authorities maintain they have taken steps. “We have taken every possible measure to supply water and build cattle camps. Local administrations have been asked to tap newer water sources,” said Vijaykumar Phad, deputy commissioner (revenue), divisional commissionerate, Aurangabad. (Pratik Chorge / HT Photo)

Villagers from Nandi village line by a well where the water level has dipped water significantly and is muddy on top of that. Such sights are commonplace, of villagers seen standing in queues for hours to collect water from tankers, scraping what’s left in their drying wells or doing the rounds of government offices demanding drought-relief. (Pratik Chorge / HT Photo)

While the Maharashtra government started declaring drought in November 2018, almost five months later, villagers said relief measures are yet to reach them. Drought was declared in 20,000 villages across 26 districts. Eight districts of Marathwada are among the worst hit. Here, more than 90% of the villages — 7,765 of 8,534 villages — have been hit. (Pratik Chorge / HT Photo)

Sheikh Ishaque Ibrahim helps villagers fill buckets by climbing down the well. His task begins at 5 am and goes on for next four hours until the water dips further making it difficult to fill the buckets. In five districts, every village is reeling under drought, according to government figures. (Pratik Chorge / HT Photo)

The government promised water tankers and setting up cattle camps. But residents allege tankers don’t arrive, as revenue officials have marked many dry wells as live water sources. “How can authorities call a well with muddy water that is only half a foot deep a live source?” asked Aslam Patel, a resident who helped set up a cattle camp in 2012. No camps have been set up in Jalna; few in the region. (Pratik Chorge / HT Photo)

Villagers in Karjat village cleaned a common well abandoned for 27 years by removing tonnes of silt from it. The well will now use it to store the water supplied by government through tankers. It’s either our children or our cattle,” said Suresh Jadhav, sarpanch of Jalna’s Bondhalapuri village. “Butchers are ready to buy buffaloes at a fourth of the market price.” (Pratik Chorge / HT Photo)

The water scarcity is not restricted to the region’s villages. Even in Aurangabad, Marathwada’s key city, residents get tap water once every four days. Back in Jalna’s Nandi village, Sakhubai Ghule said residents are still waiting for the government to start supplying water through tankers. (Pratik Chorge / HT Photo)

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While the Maharashtra government started declaring drought in November 2018, almost five months later, villagers said relief measures are yet to reach them. Drought was declared in 20,000 villages across 26 districts. Eight districts of Marathwada are among the worst hit. Here, more than 90% of the villages — 7,765 of 8,534 villages — have been hit. In five districts, every village is reeling under drought, according to government figures. As part of relief measures, the government promised water tankers and setting up cattle camps. But, residents allege tankers don’t arrive, as revenue officials have marked many dry wells as live water sources.