Maharashtra drought

Maharashtra’s Climate Action Plan Comes up Short

Despite taking almost a decade to prepare a state action plan for climate change, the Maharashtra government has missed out on including issues related to thunderstorms, lightning and air pollution.

Eight years after the Central government’s direction to formulate a state action plan on climate change, and seven years after awarding the contract for a comprehensive vulnerability assessment study, Maharashtra’s cabinet of ministers has finally adopted the state adaptation plan on climate change.

Titled Assessing Climate Change Vulnerability and Adaptation Strategies for Maharashtra: Maharashtra State Action Plan on Climate Change (MSAAPC), and prepared by the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), the action plan assesses vulnerability of the state to the changing climate and outlines broad and ambitious strategies for building a climate resilient future.

The action plan is built on a high resolution climate change modelling for which the consultant, TERI, entered into a partnership with the UK Met Office to assist in the development of climate projections for the state as a unit. Using a high resolution model, the adaptation plan projects changes in temperature and rainfall across the state at a resolution of about 25 km by 25 km for time periods 2030s, 2050s and 2070s with the average climate during 1970-2000 as the model’s baseline.

An important component of the action plan is the Macro Level Vulnerability Index (MLVI) based on 19 indicators, which has identified the most vulnerable districts in Maharashtra. As per this vulnerability index, Nandurbar is the most climate change vulnerable district, followed by Dhule and Buldhana districts. On the other hand, Satara is regarded as the least vulnerable district. Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts are also considered less vulnerable to changes in the climate. The state government has announced setting up a panel of experts to oversee the implementation of the report.

Experts dissatisfied

But, meteorologists and environment experts aren’t satisfied with the state action plan. “The state has taken considerable time to come up with its adaptation plan on climate change. But, the plan misses out on some crucial weather events, such as thunderstorm and lightning that are linked to climatic changes. Air pollution, an important environment factor, is also missing from the plan,” Akshay Deoras, Nagpur-based independent meteorologist, said.

“Moreover, any climate modelling study that projects temperature rise or changes in rainfall, must quantify errors as that adds to the validity of the report. But, the error margins are missing in the state action plan,” added Deoras.

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Ashok Jaswal, former scientist with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) Pune, stresses that an effective state action plan should include all direct and indirect climatic parameters. “Air pollutants are aerosols and have their own different properties. Some are salt-based, whereas others are carbon-based, or dust, or smoke. Some reflect solar radiation, whereas others trap heat,” he told indiaclimatedialogue.net. “These aerosols influence cloud formation, rainfall and the overall climate, and must be a part of the state action plan on climate change.”

Mounting crop losses

Broadly speaking, the state action plan discusses the impacts of climate change on six sectors — agriculture, water resources, health, forests and biodiversity, livelihoods, and energy and infrastructure. It also makes model-based projections for rainfall and temperature in the state; and assesses the future sea-level rise. A section in the plan is dedicated to extreme rainfall, flooding and adaptation in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).

The climate modelling results, as documented in the state action plan, show that temperature and rainfall are projected to increase all over the state with some regional variations. Amravati division (Vidarbha region) and Aurangabad division (Marathwada region) are going to experience greater rise in annual mean temperatures than other parts of the state. The projected increase in annual mean temperature for Amravati division is expected to be 1.44-1.64 degree C, 2.2-2.35 degree C, and 3.06-3.46 degree C in 2030s, 2050s and 2070s, respectively. For the same time periods, the projected annual mean temperature increase for Aurangabad division is 1.44-1.56 degree C, 2.15-2.3 degree C, and 3.14-3.38 degree C, respectively.

Manjara Dam in Latur. Photo: PTI

Apart from an increase in mean temperature, the action plan has also projected a rise in minimum temperature in the state. The minimum temperature is projected to increase particularly in the three divisions of Konkan, Pune and Nashik, which could have an adverse impact on crops sensitive to high night temperatures in the reproductive phase, such as grain growth in rice or tuberisation in potatoes, warns the state action plan.

Heat stress

Konkan and Nashik divisions are expected to have an increase in heat index (calculated by combining projections for air temperature and relative humidity to indicate human comfort levels), which will lead to heat stress. The action plan notes that an increase in temperature will be conducive to malaria-transmitting mosquitoes in eastern and coastal (Thane and Raigad regions) Maharashtra in 2030s. By the 2050s, a faster rate of parasite development will take place in Aurangabad, Jalna and Nashik districts.

An increase in temperature is likely to lead to a decrease in yields for some crops, such as rice, sorghum and cotton. A 1 degree C to 2.3 degree C rise in temperature results in 6.3% to 17.5% decline in sorghum yield in semi-arid conditions, respectively. Similarly, a 1 degree C to 4 degree C temperature increase results in reduction in soybean yield of 11% to 36%, respectively. A temperature rise of 1.85 degree C may result in no significant change in cotton yield in central India, reports the action plan, but a temperature rise of 3.2 degree C can lead to a 268 kg per ha decline in cotton yield.

Since a warmer atmosphere has a higher capacity to hold water vapour, it will lead to intense rainfall events with longer dry or low rainfall spells in between. Extreme rainfall is projected to increase in all regions of the state with greater increases in the northern parts of the state, particularly in Aurangabad and northern regions of the Nashik division. By the 2030s, Amravati division is expected to have 17.5-30 percent more rainfall, which will further increase to 22.5-32.5% by the 2050s.

Meanwhile, parts of south central Maharashtra (Ahmednagar, Solapur, Beed, Latur, Osmanabad, etc.) are projected to experience more dry days in the 2030s as compared to the baseline. These districts of Marathwada are already prone to recurring droughts and infamous for farmers’ suicides.

“The findings of the state action plan are important because they clearly describe the adverse impacts of climate change on all the regions of the state. The report shows the worrying trend of an increase in extreme weather events and heavy precipitation days in Maharashtra,” Parineeta Dandekar, associate co-ordinator of the South Asian Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP), told indiaclimatedialogue.net. “Increased rainfall will lead to heavy flooding, which will have a direct bearing on the state’s water infrastructure. But, the action plan fails to elaborate upon ways to manage the water infrastructure in times of climate change.”

A pond in Maharashtra in 1972. Credit: Nidhi Jamwal

Lightning missing from action plan

Lightning is listed as a state-specific disaster in Maharashtra, but the state action plan makes no mention of lightning, which is linked to climatic changes. “Rising temperature means more evaporation and high moisture content in the atmosphere, which leads to more thunderstorm activity and an increased incidence of lightning,” explained Jaswal.

A recent study, Distribution of Lightning Casualties over Maharashtra, India, has studied lightning deaths in the state between 1979 and 2011 and found 2,363 casualties from 455 lighting events. On an average 72 casualties per year have been reported with significant increasing trend. “About 51% events and 46% casualties have occurred only in six districts of Nagpur, Chandrapur, Yavatmal, Nashik, Amravati and Akola. Remarkably, Vidarbha region has reported about 4 times more lightning events and about 3 times more casualties than second highest Marathwada region,” reads the September 2011 study published in the Journal of Indian Geophysical Union.

Another September 2015 study, Lightning Fatalities over India: 1979-2011, has reported Maharashtra as number one state in the country with lightning fatalities. Of the 5,259 people killed due to lightning in India between 1979 and 2011, 29% were from Maharashtra, followed by 12% from West Bengal and 9% from Uttar Pradesh.

New climate models have predicted a 50% increase in lightning strikes across the world during this century as a result of warming temperatures due to climate change. “It is shocking that in spite of so many lives being lost each year due to lightning, the state action plan does not even mention the terms thunderstorm and lightning. Unless the plan acknowledges these weather events, how will the state government manage such disasters?” questioned Deoras.

Also Read: Environment Ministry’s Cooling Action Plan Is a Good Start but Not Good Enough

Jaswal urges the state government to include thunderstorm in the state action plan because thunderstorm leads to cloudburst, which gives localised precipitation and causes heavy flooding, as happened during the Mumbai floods in July 2005.

The action plan does take note of the adverse impacts of hailstorm on horticulture crops in the state. For instance, it notes that the hailstorm destroyed grapes crop in 2008-09. In 2010, almost 15% of the orange crop was destroyed due to rising heat and untimely hailstorm. But, the action plan fails to provide pointed information on ways to deal with hailstorms and minimising their impacts on the crops.

Air pollution amiss

Apart from thunderstorm and lightning, the action plan also makes no mention of air pollution which is closely related to climate change. According to the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) Potsdam, Germany, many air pollutants that are harmful to human health and ecosystems also contribute to climate change by affecting the amount of incoming sunlight that is reflected or absorbed by the atmosphere, with some pollutants warming and others cooling the earth. These so-called short-lived climate-forcing pollutants (SLCPs) include methane, black carbon, ground-level ozone, and sulfate aerosols.

“Not including air pollution in the state climate action plan is a major drawback and the same must be rectified at the earliest,” Jaswal told indiaclimatedialogue.net. According to him, action plan is a vision document to guide the policy makers and must be comprehensive in all aspects.

Dandekar stresses on the need for translating action points listed in the state adaptation plan into swift action. “The recommendations should not remain only on paper, but must be included in the various state policies for immediate implementation,” she said. Deoras recommends setting up of a committee to reframe the action plan, by including the above-mentioned points, and then working towards the plan’s implementation by providing specific directions.

Nidhi Jamwal is an environment editor with Gaon Connection.

This article was first published on India Climate Dialogue.

In Parched Nanded, State’s Money Flows but Water Doesn’t Arrive

Contrary to claims, Devendra Fadnavis’ flagship Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan has not had any impact in most villages.

Mukhed, Nanded: In global migration trends, difficult living and environmental circumstances are pushing people to leave their homes and move closer to their workplace. But in Sawargaon Pir village in Mukhed, the trend is exactly the opposite.

“I have a house and my whole family here. I also have a well-paying government job. I still had to move 65 kilometres away to Nanded city and travel each day to the village,” says Muzawar Gafoor, a 39-year-old state transport bus conductor. Despite the availability of job opportunities in the village, people have moved away from the village and travel back home every day for work.

“How does one live without water?” Gafoor asks, a primary reason why the village has witnessed reverse migration here over the past decade.

On paper, Sawargaon Pir village, like most of the 1,600 villages in Nanded, is well equipped to handle the water crisis. But a closer look reveals broken pipelines, dried handpumps and private water tankers zipping in and out of the village.

Most youth in Nanded are forced to migrate due to drought and subsequent water shortage in the villages. Photo: Sukanya Shantha/The Wire

More than 2.5 crore spent

According to the village administration, over Rs 2.5 crore was spent specifically on different projects to provide water to the more than 6,000 people of the village. Of this, Rs 50 lakh was spent only under the state’s flagship Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan (JSA) scheme.

Sawargaon Pir was one of the first villages to have been adopted under the JSA, an integrated water conservation scheme announced with much fanfare in December 2014. Almost five years after the scheme’s launch, the village continues to be water-parched and struggles to meet even the daily domestic water requirement.

In a mixed population village, where crops have failed season after season, most residents are dependent on labour work, private industries or a handful of government jobs. A sizeable population also travels to sugarcane farms and brick kilns in the relatively richer western Maharashtra.

Dhanaji Kamble, a resident of the village, tells The Wire that the migration is directly connected with the non-availability of water in the village. “At least three attempts were made to lay water lines in the village. Each time, the work was stopped abruptly. You will see two different pipelines in the village. One which ends abruptly, put up by the state, and another by a private well owner. We pay over Rs 500 every month to the private owner for drinking water supply once every week,” Kamble says.

In this village, almost every household has attempted to dig a borewell, some as deep as 60 and 70 feet. Only one family managed to find some water, villagers say. “The cost of digging a borewell is around Rs 70,000-1 lakh. But no water is available. It is not because there is no water here. It is because water has been diverted away over many years and the connectivity exercise under several schemes was stopped abruptly,” feels Premkumar Kamble, a villager.

Marathwada has always had deficient rainfall and the region has faced consecutive droughts over the past decade. In 2014, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis took charge of the state amid a severe drought. Marathwada recorded severe rainfall deficit in 2014 and 2015. In 2018, the situation worsened as the region suffered over 100 days of dry spell during the average rainy season of 150 days. Among the nine districts of Marathwada, though Nanded is least affected, the water shortage is just as bad.

A broken water line in Sawargaon Pir village. Photo: Sukanya Shantha/The Wire

The JSA scheme

The JSA is not a standalone scheme but is implemented alongside 14 other water conservation projects. The scheme, which claims to provide water to 5,000 villages and making them free of water scarcity every year, is largely dependent on the implementation of other core, Central and state projects like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Act (MGNREGA) and the Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWPM).

Also Read: Maharashtra Elections: Tracking the Changing Fates of Congress and BJP

Around Sawargaon Pir, village records show that works such as desilting, building a farm pond and contour bunds have been taken up. The record states work worth more than Rs 2 crore has been completed under three primary projects: MGNREGA, IWMP and the Environment Santulit Samrudh Gram Vikas Yojana (a scheme started by the rural development and panchayat raj department to undertake sustainable rural development).

Shivaji Gedewad, a social activist from the region, points to several discrepancies in the claims made by the administration. He says though these projects had the sole purpose of providing water to the villages, “Most of the work is either half done or doesn’t exist. Besides these core projects, the state decided to launch the JSA scheme here. Water still remains a distant dream.”

A few kilometres from Sawargaon Pir, in Mangyal village, a similar story plays out. Of the village’s population of 3,000, mostly belonging to the Scheduled Caste and OBC communities, almost 90% migrate to the nearby city or to western Maharashtra for work. Here too, like Sawargaon Pir, the grampanchyat claims lot of work was completed over the past five years to provide water.

Besides the MGNREGA and IWMP scheme, smaller schemes like the Dynamic Watershed Development Programme, Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jal Bhumi Sandharan Abhiyan have been implemented in the village. Records accessed by Gedewad, under the Right to Information Act, show Rs 3 crore was spent in just desilting of a cement naala bund and creating micro watersheds in the village. But villagers say they haven’t seen or been a part of any of this work.

Social activist Shivaji Gedewad has collated data under the RTI which points are discrepancies in the state’s claim. Photo: Sukanya Shantha/The Wire

“They claim the work was completed under the MGNREGA. No one from the village was employed under this. If you go where the work was supposed to have been done, you will know the real condition,” says Balbir Dantalwad. In 2013, Dantalwad had filed a case against the then-village sarpanch Ramrao Maskhale for forging the NREGA documents.

“Money was claimed under non-existent and dead persons’ names. The sarpanch had to spend a few days in prison. But the ground reality has not changed much. In fact, Maskhale is a star campaigner for the BJPs candidate in Mukhed constituency,” Dantalwad claims.

Also Read: In Election Year, Maharashtra Has a Water Shortage and a Solutions Shortage

Gedewad, under the RTI Act, has accessed papers to cross-check the implementation of several schemes, particularly the JSA in Marathwada area. He says, “In almost all places, the work is conducted in an unscientific manner. At places, streams have been dredged and deepened to the extent that aquifers are left bare. In some spots, the check dam built has only further aggravated the water crisis of the region.” In other places, absolutely no work has been done, he says.

Most work undertaken under the Jalyukt Siwar Abhiyan has been left incomplete or poorly done. Photo: Sukanya Shantha/The Wire

Earlier this year, Fadnavis claimed that under the scheme, as many as 2,54,000 soil and water conservation structures have been constructed in over 16,500 villages. He said the state has spent approximately Rs 7,690 crore.

According to the CM, the scheme created a water storage capacity of 24,000 million cubic feet and has succeeded in bringing as much as 3.4 million hectares under irrigation. He further claimed that in Marathwada alone, which has remained the primary focus area of the JSA, 70% of the work has been finished. This has created a storage potential of 818,000 TMC of water, he said.

In both Sawargaon Pir and Mangayal, a majority of villagers said they had voted for the BJP in the last election. “Most persons from our village had collectively decided to vote for (Tushar) Rathod in 2014. Access to water had been the primary reason for changing our preference from the Congress to the BJP. But in these five years, our condition has worsened. We won’t make this mistake again,” Lakshman Gawate, a 31-year-old gram panchayat member at Mangayal village claimed.

In 2014, Rathod won in the constituency against then-incumbent Congress MLA Hanmanthrao Venketrao Patil with a margin of more than 70,000 votes. The BJP has fielded him again. Rathod was unavailable for his comment, even after several attempts.

Opposition leaders in the region also support the locals’ claims. Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi’s Nanded South candidate Farooq Ahmed says most villages that he has travelled to have an identical problem. “For all the fanfare projected in the media and the CM’s speeches, this scheme has managed to achieve very little on ground,” Ahmed claims.

The Congress’s senior leader and former chief minister Ashok Cavan alleged that even with the complete failure of the rural schemes, the BJP has not spoken about during the campaign. “In almost every election speech, both the local and national leaders of the BJP have made rhetorical speeches and invoked Kashmir and nationalism. The water condition which has ravaged this region all along has only further worsened under this government,” claims Chavan, a Congress candidate from Nanded’s Bhokar constituency.

Maharashtra Farmer Who Died by Suicide Was Wearing T-Shirt With BJP Symbol, Slogan on It

The incident occurred on a day when Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis was in Buldhana to address campaign rallies.

New Delhi: A little over a week before Maharashtra goes to polls, a farmer in Buldhana allegedly died by suicide by hanging himself from a tree on Sunday, reported NDTV.

The farmer was, notably, wearing a t-shirt with the Bhartiya Janata Party’s symbol on it. The text below it read, “Punha aaluya aaple sarkar (Let’s bring our government to power again).”

According to the report, a debt of over Rs 2 lakhs had led the 35-year-old farmer, Raju Gyandare Talware, to take the extreme step.

“It is believed that Talware had run up debts. The truth will be known after a detailed probe. We have registered a case,” an official from the Shegaon rural police station told PTI.

The incident occurred on a day when Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis was in Buldhana to address campaign rallies.

#MahaJanadeshSankalp Sabha today in Jalgaon, where our Hon PM @narendramodi ji will address and guide all of us.

My 3 rallies in Buldhana district and 1 at Versova. pic.twitter.com/GEsBfc7j6l

— Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) October 13, 2019

Marathwada and Vidarbha are two regions in Maharashtra that have seen a large number of farmer suicides in the last two decades. Buldhana is in Yavatmal.

Recently, Fadnavis, who assumed office in 2009, pinned the blame of farmer suicides in these regions on Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar.

“Farmer suicides are the sin of Sharad Pawar and his government in Maharashtra. It started and increased during your regime. Pawar is talking about farmer suicides in his rallies in Vidarbha. I want to ask him, who was in power in Maharashtra when farmers started committing suicides?” he said, according to NDTV.

Also watch: The Farm Widow: A Suicide and a Life Left Behind

However, this year until September, 704 farmers had died by suicide in the six districts of Vidarbha alone. District level committees determined that 228 of these were due to the farm crisis.

In 267 of the cases the committees are yet to adjudicate whether the suicide took place due to the farm crisis or whether other reasons were at play.

Buldhana alone saw 315 farmer suicides in 2018, according to a report in Times of India. As many as 120 of these have been attributed to the farm crisis, with decisions pending in the other cases.

Vidarbha and Marathwada suffer from chronic drought, which often leads to crop failure. In recent years, the delay in crop insurance payments under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana have exacerbated the problem. Farmers enter into cyclical debt as they take more loans to pay back the loans they had previously taken.

According to data from the National Crime Records Bureau, 3,33,398 farmers died by suicide in India between 1995 and 2016. For the last three years the government has not released data on farmers suicides, saying that it is yet to compile the data.

If you know someone – friend or family member – at risk of suicide, please reach out to them. The Suicide Prevention India Foundation maintains a list of telephone numbers they can call to speak in confidence. You could also accompany them to the nearest hospital.

In Election Year, Maharashtra Has a Water Shortage and a Solutions Shortage

A strong test of the chief minister’s claims about a programme to improve water availability in Maharashtra emerged when 20,000 villages in 26 districts reeled under a severe drought.

On September 21, the election commission announced the dates for polls in Maharashtra: October 21, with counting on October 24.

In late July, the Shiv Sena had commenced its Jan Ashirwad Yatra with Aditya Thackeray at the helm. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), launched his Maha Janadesh rally on August 1 with promises to free the state of drought should he be reelected. The Nationalist Congress Party’s Shiv Swarajya Yatra kicked off on a similar footing on August 6.

All campaigns included water issues because one of Maharashtra’s major problems at the moment is the quantity and quality of water in urban areas and long spells of drought in rural areas, especially in the Marathwada and Vidarbha regions. Indeed, the incumbent coalition of the BJP and the Shiv Sena had promised various solutions, many of which remain unfulfilled.

The BJP also had a section entitled ‘Water for All’ in its 2014 Lok Sabha polls manifesto, under which the party promised it would ensure a substantial portion of urban wastewater is treated and reused. Wastewater reuse has been gaining traction worldwide for its potential to address a part of the rising demand for water, but only together with effective water treatment systems.

Also read: After Four-Year Drought, Ten Days of Rain in Marathwada Causes Deluge

The manifesto also included promises to restore old village ponds, streams, public wells and other water bodies; to subsidise the implementation of drip-irrigation systems to up to 95%; and to mandate rainwater-harvesting in both urban and rural areas.

In April 2018, a resident of Pune named Nitin Shankar Deshpande moved the National Green Tribunal (NGT) against the Union environment ministry. In 2015, the ministry had issued a draft notification specifying discharge limits of 10 mg/l of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and 20 mg/l of total solid suspended (TSS), but relaxed them in 2017 with another notification that specified limits of 20 mg/l for BOD and 50 mg/l for TSS. Deshpande alleged that this dilution of norms had left water bodies at the mercy of polluters.

In its April 2019 verdict, the NGT noted that the relaxed standards could damage the water, degrade the environment and human lives and livelihoods. The tribunal accepted 10 mg/1 of BOD as the standard, and an expert committee it had set up released a list of sewage treatment plants around India that were doing a good job of treating wastewater around the country. None of Mumbai’s seven plants were on the list, but two in Navi Mumbai, three in Pune and one in Nagpur were.

At the state level, the Maharashtra government launched a scheme called Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan (JSA) in December 2014 to make the state drought-free by 2019. Through its many programmes, including deepening and widening streams, building cement and earthen stop dams, work on nullah and digging farm ponds, the JSA aimed to free 5,000 villages of water-shortage issues every year.

Also read: Bullet Train Project to Cost Maharashtra 54,000 Mangrove Trees

In December 2019, Fadnavis claimed that the JSA has supported the construction of over 250,000 soil and water-conservation structures in 16,500+ villages for Rs 7,692 crore. This in turn has helped to create a water-storage capacity of 24 TMC and to bring 3.4 million hectares of land under irrigation. In parts of the state where JSA activities had been started and completed, Fadnavis also claimed that the new infrastructure had improved crop yields by 45%.

However, experts and activists have denounced the JSA. In September 2015, the economist H.M. Desarda filed a public interest litigation in the Bombay high court in which he claimed the JSA “is not based on sound hydrological principles and scientific concept of ridge-to valley, though on paper [it has been] shown to be so.” The high court ordered the state to constitute a committee to pursue Desarda’s complaints, which the state did under the guidance of Johny Joseph, an IAS officer and commissioner of Mumbai’s municipal corporation from 2004 to 2007. This committee concluded in the government’s favour.

But a stronger test of Fadnavis’s claims emerged earlier this year, when 20,000 villages in 26 districts in Maharashtra reeled under a severe drought. Of these, eight districts in the Marathwada region, encompassing around 8,000 villages, were the worst affected. As a stopgap measure, the government engaged over 6,400 water tankers till June 3, 2019, to supply water to 5,127 villages and hamlets.

A commentary published in the Economic & Political Weekly in the same month argued that the drought had showed the JSA up as a stopgap measure as well, albeit a more elaborate one, and that it lacked long-term planning and water-use regulations.

Also read: Circumventing the CRZ to Unlock Mumbai’s Coastal Real Estate

Additionally, breweries and distilleries controlled by prominent individuals continued to operate at full tilt. There are 129 units manufacturing beer, Indian-made foreign liquor and country liquor in Marathwada. These units purchased water from private water distributors who in turn had obtained their supply from various dams in the region. For example, the liquor industry consumed 60% of the water from Jaikwadi dam in Aurangabad, the largest city in Marathwada, despite the widespread shortage.

As the state goes to polls on October 21, political parties will not shy away from making the sort of promises they did in 2014 again. The questions voters need to ask is if the promises can be fulfilled, if they will be, and whether what is being promised is a meaningful solution at all.

Amit Ranjan is a visiting research fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore.

Not Just Chennai, India’s Drought Situation Is Far Worse Than We Realise

By the end of the last monsoon, it was clear that almost half the country would be heading towards a drought.

The Chennai water crisis has suddenly spluttered all over television channels and media reports. ‘A city gone dry’, ‘man-made crisis’, ‘21 cities to run out of groundwater’, ‘no drips, no drops’, and ‘self-inflicted water scarcity’, cry out the news headlines. So much so that Leonardo DiCaprio, the Hollywood actor, recently took to Instagram to highlight the acute water shortage in the southern city.

There is no doubt that Chennai is facing a water crisis. However, there were clear signals of drought-like conditions not just in Chennai but across south India as early as the beginning of this year, and the same was reported by The Wire.

On January 16, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) released a ‘Statement on Climate in India during 2018’, which pointed out that rainfall during the last northeast monsoon season, between October and December, over the country had been “substantially below normal” – only 56% of the long-term average. And this, it said, was the sixth lowest since 1901.

The Met office had further noted that except for Kerala, all the other four meteorological subdivisions in the southern peninsula — coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, and south interior Karnataka — had received deficient rainfall.

Because of drought, farmers and cattle herders in Karnataka are now facing fodder shortage. Photo: Nidhi Jamwal

Early this year, three of the four reservoirs supplying water to Chennai had gone dry and water cuts had been introduced. It is claimed that now all the four reservoirs – Chembarambakkam, Poondi, Red Hills and Cholavaram – are “almost empty”.

Even though the southwest monsoon is slowly picking up pace to cover large parts of the country, water woes in Chennai, and some other parts of south India may remain a matter of concern because these regions receive a major chunk of their annual rainfall from the northeast monsoon (October to December) and not the southwest monsoon (June to September).

Also read: Digging For Water in Tamil Nadu

For instance, Tamil Nadu and the Union territory of Puducherry, which together form one meteorological sub-division, receive almost 50% of their annual rainfall during the northeast monsoon season, which is still three months away.

But even if we were to look beyond Chennai, the water scenario is anything but comfortable across the country. As per the South Asia Drought Monitor, maintained by the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhi Nagar (IITG), at present, more than 44% area of the country is facing drought-like conditions, of which over 17% is facing ‘severe dry’ conditions (see map). Several of these areas are facing successive droughts and may not recover even after a ‘normal’ monsoon this year.

Source: South Asia Drought Monitor

Last year, both northeast monsoon and southwest monsoon rains were ‘below normal’, which is why drought conditions are now being seen in large parts of the country.

The drought conditions were further aggravated when this year’s pre-monsoon season, March to May, registered a cumulative rainfall departure of minus 24% (see graph).

Pre-monsoon rainfall between March and May in 2019. Source: India Meteorological Department.

Against the normal onset date of June 1, the southwest monsoon arrived over Kerala on June 8 this year. Thereafter, the progress of monsoon has been slow. It hit Mumbai only on June 25, the most delayed it has been in the last 45 years.

As of June 26, of the total 36 meteorological subdivisions in the country, 31 are in ‘deficient’ and ‘large deficient’ rainfall category. So far, there is a deficit of minus 36% rainfall in this southwest monsoon season.

According to the Central Water Commission, which monitors the water storage status of 91 reservoirs in the country, live storage available in these reservoirs is 27.265 billion cubic metre, which is 17% of total live storage capacity of these reservoirs. Last year, this figure was 29.699 billon cubic metre.

Farmers in drought-hit states are on their tenterhooks, as kharif sowing has been delayed. But this drought has not come out of the blue. Take the case of Maharashtra, where in October 2018 itself the state government had declared drought in several talukas. Officially, 28,524 villages in 151 talukas of the state are declared drought-hit. Maharashtra has a total of 358 talukas, hence more than 42% of the state is drought-affected.

As of June 26, Maharashtra has only 5.96% water in all its dams. The situation is the worst in the Aurangabad division – the especially drought-prone Marathwada region is in this division – which has only 0.47% water left. Of the nine major dam projects in Aurangabad division, eight are dry.

A traditional tank on the outskirts of Bengaluru being desilted to capture rainwater and help recharge groundwater. Photo: Nidhi Jamwal

Karnataka is also facing an unprecedented situation. It has declared drought in 100 talukas spread across 24 districts. The state faces an estimated loss of Rs 16,500 crore.

Last November, Jharkhand government had declared 126 blocks in 18 districts as drought-hit and sought a relief package of Rs 8.16 billion from the Centre. Jharkhand has a total of 260 blocks in its 24 districts. Thus, half the state is in the grip of an acute drought.

A month later, in December, Gujarat government also declared 3,367 villages under 51 talukas of its 16 districts as drought-hit.

Other states such as Bihar and Andhra Pradesh have declared drought, too.

Early this year, the Centre released Rs 6,680 crore as drought relief to four states —Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. Of these, Maharashtra received the lion’s share of Rs 4,700 crore followed by Karnataka which received Rs 950 crore. Andhra Pradesh got Rs 900 crore and Gujarat, 130 crore.

Development in groundwater withdrawal in selected countries.

Experts point out that the drought has turned acute not only because of poor monsoon rainfall last year, but also due to mindless extraction and mismanagement of groundwater. Villagers in drought-hit Marathwada narrate how even during the worst drought 0f the early 1970s, the situation was not this critical because even if no water fell from the sky, there would plenty of water under the ground.

Now, there are pockets in Marathwada where no groundwater can be found even at depths of 1,000 feet. Several villages have turned into ‘ghost villages’. People have locked their houses and migrated due to lack of water.

In spite of the wide spatial spread of acute drought across the states, the situation has not received the kind of attention it deserved from as early as the end of the last southwest monsoon.

By the end of the last northeast monsoon season, it was clear that almost half the country would be heading towards a drought. Management of existing water sources could have averted the present water crisis.

Also read: We Parched the Country to Quench the City, and Chennai Still Cries for Help

All eyes are now set on the southwest monsoon, which is delayed and is slowly picking up pace. In its second long range forecast issued on May 31, the IMD had forecast a ‘normal’ monsoon rainfall of 96% of the long period average (LPA) over the country as a whole with a model error of plus or minus 4%.

The LPA is the weighted average of rainfall that India has received in the southwest monsoon season (June to September) from 1951 to 2000, and is pegged at 89 cm.

The southwest monsoon season is almost a month in and the country already has a rainfall deficit of minus 36%. Even if the monsoon now picks up pace, farming in the southern peninsula are expected to be affected due to delayed sowing, as a large number of them are dependent on this rainfall for farming.

Last year’s below normal southwest monsoon rainfall, followed by deficient northeast monsoon rainfall, and this year’s drought situation across half the country is a brutal reminder that both the government and the people must work together and conserve every drop of rain that the two monsoons shower on our lands every year.

Nidhi Jamwal is environment editor with Gaon Connection.

Between 2015 and 2018, More Than 12,000 Farmers Killed Themselves in Maharashtra

An average of eight farmers took their own lives everyday during the three year period, the government informed the legislative assembly.

New Delhi: More than 12,000 farmers killed themselves in Maharashtra between 2015 and 2018, the legislative assembly was informed on Friday.

During the three year period, 12,021 farmer took their own lives, which adds up to more than eight deaths every day. Of these cases, 6,888 were found to be eligible for government aid after scrutiny by district-level committees, Relief and rehabilitation minister Subhash Deshmukh told the House in a written reply.

With Maharashtra reeling under a severe drought and agrarian crisis, the legislative council was discussing the condition. Mahrashtra has historically been a state where a large number of farmers take their own lives every year.

The state is also set to have elections to the assembly later this year. This has prompted a political battle over where the blame lies on the condition of the farmers.

Also Read: Understanding Land in the Time of Farmers’ Suicides

Opposition leader Jayant Patil said, “We have always drawn the attention of the government towards agrarian crisis. Whether it is loan waiver or crop loan they are not reaching all the needy farmers. Thus, pushing them in greater financial distress leading to such extreme steps.”

Speaking in the legislative assembly, Deshmukh said so far, family members of 6,845 farmers have been given financial assistance of Rs 1 lakh each. Between January and March 2019, 610 farmers died by suicide, out of which 192 cases were eligible for financial assistance, the minister said.

Of the 192 eligible cases, financial compensation has been given to the kin of 182 farmers, Deshmukh said. The remaining cases are being scrutinised to check their eligibility for compensation, he said.

While the Maharashtra government has been waiving loans of farmers, it does not seem to have eased the agrarian crisis. In 2017, when a loan waiver was announced, 4,500 farmer suicides were reported.

Devendra Fadnavis’ Plan of a Drought-Free Maharashtra by 2019 Fails

Despite the ambitious Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan, 40% of the state is reeling from drought and its water tanker economy is booming.

Mumbai: In April 2016, Maharashtra operated the water train to supply drinking water to drought-affected Latur.

In the same year, the state embarked on its Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan to become drought free by 2019. Despite the ambitious plan, 40% of the state is reeling from drought and its water tanker economy is booming. Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan aimed at making Maharashtra a drought-free state by deepening and widening streams as well as constructing cement and earthen stop dams, nullahs and digging farm ponds.

But, as of February 2019, the state government declared drought in 151 of the 358 talukas. In these talukas, 28,524 villages have been declared drought-affected. Of this, 112 are severe drought hit. While activists say that the Jalyukt scheme has failed after a spectacular start, government officials defend their work, claiming the last monsoon rainfall was at a historical low.

Also read: Deficient Pre-Monsoon Rain Puts Almost Half of India on Drought Alert

According to Central Water Commission (CWC) data, reservoir storage during the current year has been less than the storage last year for the western region, which includes the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra.

“It is also less than the average storage in the last 10 years of the corresponding period,” the commission’s report suggested. Of the 19 reservoirs that the CWC monitors in Maharashtra, five were recorded as completely dry on May 23.

State Rainfall Share for Maharashtra March 1-May 29, 2019. Credit: Business Standard.

Between FY17 and FY20, the state budget allocated Rs 5,200 crore towards the Abhiyan. Eknath Dawale, secretary, water conservation and employment guarantee scheme (EGS), said the total expenditure for the scheme from various sources stands at Rs 8,000 crore.

Despite the allocation, 40% of the state is now struggling to get access to water for basic needs. The shortage has brought to fore the conflicts yet again. Earlier this month, the local media reported that a first information report (FIR) was filed for water theft from a residential over-head tank in Maharashtra’s Manmad district.

“The scheme started on a good note. Had they (officials) maintained the momentum, it would have worked. However, what started as a community work-driven scheme, got converted into a contractor-driven one, and the decline started,” said Rajendra Singh, water conservationist who is also known as Waterman.

Dawale, however, refutes claims that the scheme failed. “Nothing went wrong with the scheme. September rainfall was at a historic low of 26% and storage was not replenished. We have created the spots. Only those works which are large are given to contractors while smaller works are community driven,” he added.

State authorities responsible for drinking water supply claim that the affected areas have been provided drinking water through tankers. Sham Lal Goyal, additional chief secretary, water supply and sanitation department of the state, said 216 government tankers and another 5,643 private ones have been roped in to supply drinking water.

Goyal pegs the cost to government for private tankers at over Rs 4,000 per tanker per day. However, activists working on the ground point out that a tanker lobby is flourishing.

“A family of four will have to pay Rs 3,000 or more for their water needs,” said Ranjit Acharya, a Latur resident and a social activist. That compares to the average household monthly electricity bill in a city like Mumbai. Though private tankers are expected to supply water for free, activists add the process involves touts and other middle-men, who villagers in some parts of the state may need to pay off.

In districts like Latur, Acharya points out that water was a big issue during election campaigns. “This has been an election issue since the last two years. They talk about water restoration projects and make promises of water trains. Last time, the water train only helped the city, not the district. The people feel that if something has to change, they will need to do it themselves,” he added.

Most agree that the situation will change only with community efforts. “The Jalyukt Shivar worked well in some places like Sangli, where the community helped develop restoration projects. When the community builds these, they also fight for its sustainable use,” said Singh.

In Photos: Tracking Gujarat’s Worst Drought in Over Thirty Years

Parallel to the tanker economy, some of these drought-affected areas are also witnessing the boom of mineral water facilities.

“These companies set up bore wells, pump water and fill them into plastic jars and sell. There is no check on the water quality and these are sold at double the rate in Aurangabad,” said Subhash Lomte, social activist from the city, who was also an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Lok Sabha candidate in 2014.

As the state approaches the end of May, some activists feel relief for the drought-prone areas is near. Some parts of the state start receiving early pre-monsoon showers by May-end, they added. Goyal is also hopeful the state will not need its water train this summer.

But the recently announced delay in the onset of monsoon could mean that the worst is not yet over for farmers and others in Maharashtra.

This article was originally published in Business Standard. Read it here.

Life of Labour: The Sad State of Real Chowkidars; An Inter-Jail Music Contest

Latest news updates from the world of work.

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Agricultural Crisis

Sheep and goat farmers left without fodder in drought-hit Marathwada

The Marathwada region of Maharashtra saw a substantial fall in rainfall and a draught was announced, allegedly as far back as October. This disproportionately affects marginal farmers because as the groundwater level falls, grazing area for their goats and sheep disappears. These animals provide an alternate source of income for these farmers, but the drought has spoiled this as well.

One farmer told The Wire, “Goat or sheep that is generally sold for Rs 10,000 is being sold for Rs 4,000 to 5,000. Pregnant animals that would fetch Rs 13,000 to 15,000 are being sold at Rs 6,000 to 7,000. Otherwise, we have to sell our cattle to a butcher.”

Precarious Work

139 million labourers are suffering due to a messed up payment system in India

In an interview with Indiatimes, economist Jean Dreze discussed how digitising records of NREGA and the introduction of Aadhaar has actively hindered transparency from the point of view of workers:

“The fact that everything is now internet-based often creates an illusion of transparency because only government officials can see everything on their screen but not the workers. Nothing is visible for them anymore because they don’t have internet and all the old safeguards like keeping physical records of the work days and the data of the worksite are not maintained. Since everything is internet-based and the system has become very non-transparent for workers and this opens the door for corruption.”

He also touches on the issues that migrant labourers face around accommodation and mental health.

Long working hours, low salary, no weekly off: The sad state of real chowkidars

The Indian Express writes, “As the term chowkidar is a much-used in the high voltage election politics of the day, the actual chowkidars are a forgotten lot, struggling for basic rights as workers and humans.”

There are over 50 lakh security personnel in the country and a lot of them are not receiving benefits as per the country’s labour laws like ESI etc.

“The government’s policy of ease of doing business has given these agencies a free hand. Farmers, villagers, illiterate people get an easy job of standing outside a gate and get paid monthly. That is why they also don’t complain because after all they are getting employment,” said an official who spoke anonymously to Indian Express.

Gender at Work

Women’s groups win as Supreme Court cancels anganwadi contracts worth Rs 6,300 crore in Maharashtra

A recent court judgement has chastised the government for awarding huge contracts to three private contractors who had already had a bad track record for providing poor quality food to the children. Since these contracts were awarded in 2016, women’s groups have been fighting to get it set right. These groups argued that the terms of the contracts were changed at the last minute to ensure that only the large contractors could apply for them. The court has found the change mala fide.

Also read: The Life of Labour: India’s Working Women; Workers at Statue of Unity Go on Strike

Death at Work

BMC worker chokes to death, four injured inside water chamber

Employees from Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s Byculla workshop were trying to investigate poor water supply to Malabar Hill when one of them fainted from the noxious fumes. This was a water pipeline and not a sewage pipeline so the corporation cannot explain why there were noxious fumes in the first place. Two workers fainted straight away when they entered the chamber and the other three fainted when trying to get them out. One of the workers died while the others were rescued.

So far, there has been no update on the cause but the fact these workers were not wearing adequate security gear shows how these deaths can only be avoided if the corporation cares enough to enforce safety protocols.

Also read: With 99% of MNREGA Funds Exhausted, Concerned MPs and MLAs Write to PM

Two contract workers killed in ONGC well fire near Ahmedabad

Two contract workers were killed while four were injured in a blaze at one of the company’s wells when maintenance was being carried out. There is no news around how the fire started or how the company is responding to these deaths and investigating whether was negligence on the company’s behalf.

Two killed in violent clash at Vedanta Alumina plant in Odisha

OdishaTV reports, “At least two persons including a security personnel of Odisha Industrial Security Force (OISF) were killed while 30 others injured in the violent clash.”

The workers were protesting outside the Vedanta office and reports claim that they were trying to torch the security shed but workers dispute the claim. The company has offered to pay Rs 25 lakh compensation to the family of those who were killed but why is nobody asking how a lathi charge can killed two people. Were these security personnel hitting the workers repeatedly till they died? What could justify this level of violence?

Other News

Gurugram inmates win inter-jail music contest

In Bhondsi Jail, 20 inmates recently filled the air with sounds of Sufi, Qawwali and other forms of folk music. This was an inter-prison music competition for the inmates of Ambala, Rohtak and Gurugram jails. Hindustan Times writes, “Dhun is an attempt to enhance the talent of male prison inmates in music so that it can become their source of livelihood upon their release.” Apparently, they trained for more than a year with professional musicians.

Also read: Life of Labour: NREGA Workers against PM Modi; India’s Long Work Hours

Worker victimisation continues in Royal Enfield, Oragadam

The aftermath of the ten-day strike that Royal Enfield workers began on February 13 is still being felt by workers, with police action, job terminations and job transfers being initiated by the management. Last month’s strike was instigated by the installation of over 150 CCTV cameras around the shopfloor, with workers alleged would be used to force them to take shorter bathroom and lunch breaks.

Soon after, Royal Enfield began taking action against members of the employees’ union who were active during the strike, transferring 27 office bearers to factories in North India, and terminating about 200 jobs. They also made workers who returned after the strike sign a ‘good conduct bond’ to ensure they wouldn’t assemble collectively to express their grievances again. Police officers were spotted arresting workers at bus stops and train stations even before they had a chance to assemble at predetermined protest points.

Dalit sanitation workers in Tamil Nadu help doctors perform autopsies

Arun Vijai M.’s photographs from inside Tamil Nadu’s mortuaries focus on the Dalit sanitation workers who are trained to dissect corpses a month after joining work.

“Since it is considered a dirty job, hospitals prefer sanitation workers who belong to the Dalit community to do this,” Arun Vijai says. While these workers are now doing highly skilled lab jobs, they are still seen as sanitation workers and are paid the same low wages. The photos are on display at University of Madras as part of the Chennai Photo Biennale till March 24.

International News

Bernie Sanders’ staff unionises in presidential campaign first

Bernie Sanders’ campaign will become the first US presidential campaign to have a unionised workforce. “We cannot just support unions with words, we must back it up with actions,” Sanders said. “On this campaign and when we are in the White House, we are going to make it easier for people to join unions, not harder.” Sanders has said that he was proud of this record.

In Philippines, teacher unionists under threat

The General Secretary of Alliance of Concerned Teachers, Raymond Basilio, has been receiving death threats and union members are being profiled by the Philippine authorities according to Labourstart. There is a campaign to write to the Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, who has a reputation of being violently anti-labour.

As Drought Looms, Villages in Satara Are Migrating to a Cattle Camp

Even as villages have gone dry, the government has not yet extended any support. The camp is also struggling to cope with the exodus.

Mhaswad, Mann Taluka, Satara: Gangoti village in Maharashtra is dry and parched. The fields of maize, bajra and pulses in the lands in and around it has all withered. There is not a drop of water in the nearby village pond; the wells and taps too have been running dry. The block division officer (BDO) of the Man Taluka in Satara district – under which the village falls – had at the beginning of the year promised that a tank with potable water would be ferried here every three days. But even in the fourth week of the month, there is no sign of one and the villagers here continue to struggle for a little bit of water.

In November, last year, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis declared 112 talukas as severely drought hit. While most of them are in the Marathwada and Vidharbha region of the state, Man in the western region is one of them.

This year’s drought is predicted to be of the worst kind. Even worse than the one faced in 1972, says 73- year old Ramhari Jhimmar. “As far as I remember,” Jhimmar says, “January has always been a month of harvest. But this year, we have no produce.” Since 2017, most farmlands are lying vacant. “Some who managed to cultivate maize in their small patch of land have also lost everything. Lack of water has destroyed it all,” he adds.

As a desperate measure, Jhimmar has sent away his two buffaloes and a cow to a cattle camp set up four kilometres away, as have the others in the village. Almost all of the 400-odd houses in Gangoti village are locked – the adults have moved away with their cows to the cattle camp run by Mann Deshi Foundation, an NGO working towards the economic empowerment of women in rural Maharashtra.

Ramhari Jhimmar (in red) at Gangoti village in Satara. Almost all adults have moved out of the village with their cattle to the cattle camp, arranged four- kilometers away. Credit: Sukanya Shantha

“Just move around the village and you will see that all houses are locked. Only handful of us frail, old men are left behind along with a few school going children. The adults have all moved to the cattle camp,” says Anandrao Wirkar, an 80-year-old farmer who owns four acres of barren land, two Khillari bulls and one Jersey milch cow.

This year, the cattle camp or chavnni, as commonly known in the region, was set up in January by Mann Deshi, in collaboration with the Bajaj Foundation and two other organisations.

Spread over 100 acres, it now has over 7,800 cattle taking shelter, with more coming in every day. These cattle are neatly arranged in rows with 40-50 cattle in each row. Along with the cattle shed, smaller tents – made out of cloth and flimsy tarpaulin – are built in which families take shelter. People can be seen working through the day, chopping sugarcane and preparing wet fodder for the cattle.

Also Read: Strangled by Drought and Low Prices, Maharashtra Farmers Hope for a Better 2019

Every morning and evening, private dairy owners visit the camp to collect milk at a centre set up near the camp. People are seen lining up with their small milk cans. “An effort is made to make everything seem normal here. Like in our villages, milk collection is carried out twice every day,” says Rekhabai, of Hingani village, 13-kilometres away.

There has been a drop in milk collection. “It is a new place. Like us, animals too sense a change in the location. My four jersey cows would give nearly 20-22 litres of milk, which has come down to just 14 litres now. But I am glad I still have them and they are surviving,” a villager told The Wire.

Cattle from across 58 villages of Man and Khatav talukas in the sprawling district of Satara and the neighbouring Atpadi taluka of Sangli have been moved here. Farmers and cattle owners from as far as Aurangabad and Beed too have been visiting the camp and asking for support. The organisers say they have a capacity to shelter around 20,000 cattle, but going by the speed at which farmers are moving to the camp, that figure will be reached soon and it might not suffice.

Despite several measures, the milk production has dipped since the cattle have been moved to the camp. Credit: Sukanya Shantha

The state is yet to step-in, complains Shantabai Wirkar, a farmer from Wirkarwadi village, who has been staying at the cattle camp for three weeks. “There is a clear crisis. We have no fodder, no water to feed our cattle,” she adds.

On January 25, the state issued a government resolution to set up camps in the affected areas. Satara district collector Shweta Singhal told The Wire that the administration is still in the process of surveying the affected area in the district. “We will take some time to identify the areas which would need government support. The GR was issued only ten days ago,” Singhal said.

“The real challenge would be in the months of April and May, when the summer is at its peak. We are afraid most villagers would be displaced in the coming months,” says Chetana Gala Sinha, founder of Mann Deshi foundation.

Milk collection camps are set up twice every day at the camp. Credit: Sukanya Shantha

The migratory concerns

Located in the eastern part of the district, away from the Sahyadri ranges, all 156 villages in Maan taluka and 60 villages in adjoining Khatav taluka fall in the rain shadow area and are perennially drought-prone.

A fifth of these talukas consist of nomadic tribes, mostly belonging to Dhangar (shepherd) community, followed by other semi-nomadic and denotified tribes. The land holding in the region is small and most families here are dependent on their livestock for sustenance. As pastoral communities, those rearing sheep travel to neighbouring districts for the most part of the year. Only those with cows and buffaloes stay back.

Also Read: For the First Time in Years, Maharashtra’s Drought-Affected Region Is Green

Villagers here say the migratory pattern of the region has seen a dramatic shift in the past few years. “Earlier, we would move to the neighbouring districts only post-Holi in March and return around Ganesh Chaturthi in August or September. Now you will see families travelling with their herds of sheep as early as January and returning only towards the end of the year,” says Mangal Mole of Motewadi village. This, Mole attributes to the crop failure and scarce rainfall in the region.

While several from Motewadi have already moved towards the Karnataka border with their livestock, around 80 houses have moved to the cattle camp.

Farmers collect fodder for their cattle at the camp. Credit: Sachin Menkudale

Life at the cattle campsite

The camp is set up on a large expanse of land. Smaller sections or wards are created and are numbered for easy management.

Twenty five-year-old Sunita Wirkar has moved to the camp with two buffaloes, from Masaiwadi village, four kilometres from the camp. Her two-year-old son, a six-month-old daughter and her mother- in-law have also tagged along. Her husband, along with other men from the village, has shifted to Belgaum with their 12 sheep, Sunita says.

Also Read: Why Improved Forecasts Are Not Helping Prevent Floods and Droughts

A tarpaulin sheet doubles up as both shelter and playing area for the children. As the temperature dips in the evening, Sunita struggles to keep her children warm. “Back home, I did not have to worry about their food and health. The village Aanganwadi took care of them. My daughter has been catching cold ever since we moved here. But I do not have a choice,” Sunita tells The Wire.

Sunita Wirkar with her six-month-old daughter. Credit: Sukanya Shantha

Like Sunita, several mothers have moved to the camp with young children. Migration and drought have both a direct impact on the wellbeing and the education of the children. Seasonal migration, coupled with unprecedented drought situations, have seriously affected farmers in the region, especially those from the migrant pastoral communities.

In some instances, parents have left their school-going children back in the village with an elderly person from the family or a neighbour. But those who lack such support have carried their children along.

“What can we do, anyway? We would also like for our children to continue going to school but there is no one to feed them in the village right now,” Lalitabai Jhimmal tells The Wire. Her three children, in Classes VII, V and III, have been squatting at the camp along with her, intermittently attending their school. “There is no water in the village. Here, at least, we have water to drink,” says the eldest one. Sachin Menkudale of Mann Deshi says they are trying to set up an Aanganwadi near the camp.

Omkar, who operates the cattle camp, says six water tanks have been organised. Four of these can store 20,000 litres each and the other two will bring 10,000 litres each. The local municipal council has arranged for drinking water. A veterinary doctor is available round the clock.

Each cattle, depending upon its breed is provided 15-20 kg of fodder. Families work together, collect their share of the fodder and feed their cattle. Anandrao Namdas of Bhangardwadi says the fodder does not suffice. “But it is at least ensuring my two cows are alive.”

Only a month ago, Namdas sold his Jersey buffalo at a village fair under distress. “I had no choice. It was getting difficult. I would have sold these too if not for the camp,” he adds.

The last time a similar camp was set up in 2012, but only in March. “Families stayed in the camp for nearly 18-20 months then. This time they have arrived three months in advance and going by the rainfall pattern, we are anticipating a much longer stay this time,” Sinha, the camp’s founder, says.

Strangled by Drought and Low Prices, Maharashtra Farmers Hope for a Better 2019

After another season of less than normal rainfall during the monsoon, the Maharashtra government declared 32 districts as drought hit.

Dhawalpuri (Ahmednagar): A narrow road off the Ahmednagar-Kalyan highway in northern Maharashtra leads to the small village of Dhawalpuri. One can witness large tracts of barren landmass with scarce vegetation on either side of the pucca roads constructed under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana in and around the village.

Amidst the bleak and deserted landscape, a few houses can be seen scattered. Salan Nana Pande (65) lives in one of the semi-pucca houses. Wrapped in a saree, she showed me the photos of her five daughters who are married and live in different parts of the state. She and her 70-year-old husband, now live alone. Their land is their only source of livelihood.

An onion cultivator in Kutewadi. Credit: Arjya Pragyan Mohanty

The two grows onions instead of pulses which are more widely grown in Dhawalpuri. “With no rainfall this year, pulses were not an option. Even other crops like wheat, jowar and bajra produced little yield,” Salan said when I expressed surprise at seeing onions in her field. The crops mentioned by Salan require substantial amounts of water, which has been in short supply.

She showed me receipts of commodities that she sold at the government mandi in Ahmednagar town last year. Onion, jowar and bajra were the three crops that she grew last year and fetched decent prices.

This year, however, has been different. Due to deficient rainfall, the yield of jowar and bajra was very low. While onions have sold for rock-bottom prices. As The Wire has reported, onion prices have crashed to as low as Re 1 per kilogram in many parts of Maharashtra this season.

Semi-arid regions of Dhawlpuri, Parner block. Credit: Arjya Pragyan Mohanty

Even the productivity of onions has been impacted by scanty rainfall. “Total land available for the sowing of onion is less than normal due to the non-availability of water,” she said.

Both the cropping seasons – rabi and kharif – have been adversely impacted by rain deficit. After another season of less than normal rainfall during the monsoon, the Maharashtra government declared 32 districts as drought hit. Ahmednagar is one of those districts.

Lying in the rain shadow area, this year’s severe drought has left people of twelve hamlets, known as ‘wadis’, under the Dhawalpuri Gram Panchayat – helpless.

Farmer suicides have become worryingly common in the region. In 2015, Maharashtra reported 4,291 farmer suicides. Crop loss due to drought and the subsequent debt burden have been the major factors.

This year too, is a dry year for a majority of the plateau regions in Central Maharashtra. Out of the 14 rivers flowing through the state, eleven rivers emanate from the Western Ghats and are dependent on rainfall for their flow. The capacity of the infrastructures, like irrigation canals from these eleven rivers, supports cultivation in 19.64% irrigated area whereas the remaining 80.24% of the area is rain-fed land, according to the Economic Survey of Maharashtra 2017-2018.

With no presence of infrastructure like irrigation canals in the rain-fed area of Dhawalpuri, non-profit organisations have installed structures like watersheds and farm ponds for storing rainwater and maintaining the groundwater level. These constructions have not been evaluated and monitored for years – even in the changing climatic conditions.

Kondu Ram of Thakarwadi (one of the 12 hamlets) says, “These structures stored water which was used up in the initial months of the year and now there is no water left for agricultural farming.”

Saku Mohan Rathod with her grandchildren. Credit: Arjya Pragyan Mohanty

Saku Mohan Rathod, another resident, remembers buying sweets and meat for her grandchildren from the local haat every Friday. But, the drought this year has made those luxuries she can no longer afford. Drought-driven migration from the village of Thakarwadi is prominent. Rathod’s children have migrated to the city as seasonal labourers.

She narrates the story of her parents, a generation ago, leaving the land of Rajasthan and shifting to Maharashtra for better livelihood opportunities. Ironically, erratic rainfall in the hilly mountainous region of Thakarwadi has made her children move to the city for better income sources, while their agricultural land remains barren.

Also read: Onion Farmers Remain at Mercy of Market Ups and Downs as Prices Crash Again

Belonging to the Banjara tribe, she drapes herself in ghagra, ghunghat and speaks fluently in Hindi. She shares,“ The Kharif cultivation of onions in the small plots will fetch us Rs 7 per kg due to the size and quality, whereas the seasonal income from the city is sufficient to run a household of six”. Livestock, that supplemented her earnings, was sold due to less coverage of grazing land and the cost of fodder being Rs 5 to Rs 5.6 per kg.

Training session held by WOTR, andNGO working in Ahmednagar district. Credit: Arjya Pragyan Mohanty

Non-profit organisations conducted training programmes in organic farming and provided agri-inputs to the farmers of Dhawalpuri. But, with the non-availability of water, the investment of time and money for better productivity went in vain. The drip irrigation system that is installed in the acres of land of medium farmers, work through an operating pump near the wells. However, the low levels of water in the wells has made the system a failure.

“The priority of usage of water has shifted to basic purposes like drinking and bathing instead of the farming activities for the rural people,” says Rajesh Bhangade, the Sarpanch of Dhawalpuri.

The farmers have been prey to drought and low pricing of onions. The average retail prices for November was Rs 25 per kg, and the farmers sold at a comparatively lower price in the local haat. The outputs from the village are not sufficient to sell at APMC.

Salan Nana Pande. Credit: Arjya Pragyan Mohanty

Last year, the Maharashtra government offered direct marketing licenses to prevent the volatility in the markets. But, the floating prices set by traders still exists according to Salan Nana Pande. She argues, “All these movements by the governments are a hoax, we remain silent while the auction takes place and I have sold onions for Rs 5 per kg as there was no demand by the traders.” “I spent Rs 60,000”, she added, “from the stage of sowing seeds to harvesting of 15 tonnes of onions, but sold them at Rs 10 per kg at the weekly Mandi.”

Whereas, the data in the Agmarknet for the first two weeks of November reflects a price of Rs 1,500 per quintal in the markets of Ahmednagar with the market arrivals of 5,979 tonnes. Minimum support prices are set for pulses, paddy and few other crops that cannot be grown due to drought, leaving the rural people perplexed while selling perishable produce like onions.

The sarpanch of the village plans to set up forward marketing linkages with the help of non-governmental organisations and governmental support from the state. Climate-sensitive agricultural income is the need of the moment for all the farmers in the rural landscape that are working tirelessly towards food security in spite of the weather changes.

Arjya Pragyan Mohanty is student of MBA-Rural Management at Xavier University, Bhubaneswar, who loves exploring heritage buildings, reading non-fiction and pays special attention to the stories of people from the bottom of the wealth pyramid.