Journalism of Courage
The drought situation is turning grimmer by the day in Pune division,where more than 25 lakh people are now depending on water tankers for meeting their drinking water needs. Divisional Commissioner Prabhakar Deshmukh,addressing the media on Tuesday in Pune,stated that every day,the demand for water tankers is going up.
At present,around 1,359 tankers supply water to 1,026 villagers and 5,884 hamlets, he said. The government has spent Rs 157 crore for supplying water until April,and according to Deshmukh,more than Rs 100 crore is needed to meet the water needs of the division in May-July.
Fodder camps for cattle are also running in the division. So far,around 4 lakh small and large animals have been getting fodder in 566 fodder camps run in the division. Majority of the fodder camps is in Solapur district,where 280 camps run. The government has spent Rs 316 crore for setting up fodder camps,while it is projected that Rs 151 crore more would be needed in the coming months.
Deshmukh stated that under the Jalyukta Gram Abhiyan,massive work of desilting of percolation tanks,wells,and widening of nullahs are being undertaken. Around 80 lakh cubic metre of silt has been taken out of water bodies so far. This silt is being given to farmers free of cost,which would be beneficial for their farms, he said.
Under the integrated watershed development programme,villages have been undertaking the work of developing watersheds,as well as increasing groundwater level. In particular,Deshmukh stated that groundwater at many places has gone down by much as 5 metre and needs to be rejuvenated immediately.
