Severe drought in Maharashtra …think for sustainable solution….
SANJHA SAMVAD
Dear all,
Severe drought in Maharashtra …think for sustainable solution….
A large part of Maharashtra has been declared drought-hit. But distribution of water is quite incongruous. While the few who are politically and financially powerful take the lion’s share for sugarcane crops, thermal plants and other industries, the rest are struggling to survive. The government has failed to deal with the crisis.
Situation: The drought-affected area received 60 to 70 per cent rainfall this year against the state average of 90 to 92 per cent. This is deficient but not deficient enough to cause drought of this magnitude. Fourteen districts in Marathwada, Khandesh and south Maharashtra have been declared drought-hit. More than 11,000 villages are facing water crisis and 3,905 villages have suffered more than 50 per cent crop loss.
Comparing this year’s drought to that in 1972, the most severe in recent history, Bharat Patankar, a senior drought mitigation and dam displacement activist, says the rich and the poor alike were forced to migrate in 1972. This time the landscape shows alternate patches of acute scarcity and abundance. Water-intensive cane and banana crops stand cheek-by-jowl with withered jowar seedlings. The failure of the rainfed jowar crop has caused a severe fodder crisis, but unlike 1972, sugarcane has not just survived but is in excess, and being fed to animals as fodder.
Unlike in 1972, the current drought is characterised by a severe drinking water crisis, both for humans and cattle. Significantly, villages with highest acreage of sugarcane are also the worse hit by drinking water crisis.
Thirty-six per cent of the country’s dams are in Maharashtra. But politically and financially powerful groups almost always grab the lion’s share of water. Conflicts exist between water users upstream and downstream, industry and agriculture, urban and rural users and even village-level political groups. According to the Maharashtra Water Resources Regulatory Authority (MWRRA) Act, 2005, there should be equal distribution of water to all projects in a river basin during water crisis. In November 2012, water in Jayakwadi dam, on the Godavari river in Aurangabad, dropped to two per cent of its storage capacity of 107 thousand million cubic feet (tmc).
Could we think on some sustainable solution for this……..suggestions are invited!
Source: http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/drought-equity
SANJHA SAMVAD
shipra gupta
- Reducing number of bore wells
- system for water harvesting
- Promote traditional seeds. BT cotton in Maharashtra has played a critical role in consumption of water
- Licence system for usage of water by many firms and factories owned by ministers
- could think on channelizing excess water during rainy season in some parts of Maharashtara (like Pune & Mumbai)
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SANJHA SAMVAD
Dear Shipra,
First of all thanks for the valuable suggestion and being an active member on almost in evry discussion. Regarding your query on “how these suggestion would be used?” indeed like food security bill we can propose the final discussion points to the State govt. of Maharashtra and probably could link and see the suggestions, situation in line with 12th five year plan and recent approved 1200+crore rupees for Maharashtra drought and see further on how this group in the form of SANJHA SAMVAD could play an active role in making water possible for people of Maharashtra.
We expect other members of the group also to come out with solid suggestions and..Save life in Maharashtra drought affected areas.
SANJHA SAMVAD
kumar Ratan
"Every Child Needs A Teacher"