“I have lost my entire sugarcane crop. The farm soil has been washed away, which means I will not be able to till the land in the future. If I do not get any government help, how will I live?” Kiran Lavate, a 26-year-old farmer from Maharashtra’s Solapur district, is at his wits’ end. Lavate hails from Undargaon village in Madha taluka, one of the worst-hit areas in the district ravaged by the recent floods. He owns a 10-acre farm and invested Rs 3.5 lakh to grow sugarcane, a popular crop sown in the region as it has high returns. “In April, it took us one month to sow the sugarcane. In October, all the standing sugarcane crop was flattened. There is hardly anything we can salvage. The entire farm soil has been washed away,” says Lavate. Ninety per cent of the families in his village have suffered a similar fate. The unprecedented rainfall in the state and the resulting floods in Marathwada have wreaked havoc on the lives of farmers, inflicting widespread damage on standing crops. This year, crops were cultivated on 1.43 crore hectares in Maharashtra. Of this, crops on approximately 68.69 lakh hectares have been damaged. In Solapur, which is among the region’s eight districts, flood-hit farmers are anxiously waiting for “some kind” of assistance from the state government to help them rebuild their lives. While Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has announced a Rs 31,628 crore package for the flood-hit regions of the state, the situation on the ground tells a different story. “No official has even turned up to conduct a panchnama (an official record documenting the damage to crops, property, etc),” claims Lavate. In Madha taluka, farms ruined, roads damaged In Solapur district, Madha taluka has been the worst hit by the floods, followed by Mohol and Barshi. Criss-crossing the length and breadth of Madha, The Indian Express spotted acres and acres of devastated farmland in and around several villages. Sugarcane, soyabean, grapes—virtually every crop has been flattened. In most villages, the topsoil has been washed away after the Seena River’s surge, first on September 24 and then on two other occasions. Infrastructure has also been hit. Bridges lie damaged, roads are riddled with potholes and craters, and there are no motorable roads. Electricity lines have snapped, poles have collapsed, and transformers have been damaged. Hundreds of livestock, which are like family members of the farmers, have died in the floods. The floods have not only thrown their lives into disarray but have also left them staring at an uncertain future, where they now have to rebuild their lives from scratch. The rain, described by old-timers as unprecedented in this arid zone-something they say the region has not seen in 100 years-flooded houses close to the Seena River, washing away household items, grains, and in some cases, jewellery and cash. Undargaon and Wakav are among the hardest-hit villages in the region. In Undargaon, floodwaters damaged sugarcane crops spread across over 2,000 acres, while Wakav saw destruction on more than 6,000 acres of farmland. “I had one acre of land, where I had planted sugarcane two months ago. I had spent Rs 60,000 and was expecting at least Rs 2 lakh once the crop was harvested. When the Seena River surged last month, I lost my entire standing crop. Our livestock shed was damaged, killing our only Jersey cow. Four water-lifting motors have become non-functional,” says Ramchandra Thorat, 50, a farmer from Undargaon village. When the Seena River breached its embankment, nearly 90 per cent of Undargaon village was inundated, with floodwater rising as high as 10 feet. Only those who stayed away from the village managed to save their houses and belongings. Thorat has received Rs 10,000 as assistance from the government. “What will I do with Rs 10,000? I lost crop, soil, machinery, cow and Rs 60,000 on which I was expecting a big profit. We have not been informed whether we will get more money from the government. I hope the government will help us so that we can restart our lives,” he says. An investment fails to pay off Lavate’s farm is located more than a km away from his home in Undargaon. Reaching the farm has become a daunting task with the roads slushy and damaged in most parts. Pointing to the flattened sugar crop, he says, “This is gone.The sugar factories will not buy them. What will I do with it?” Lavate says this was the first time they decided to invest so much in the crop. “Last year, we invested Rs 1.5 lakh and got a Rs 3 lakh profit on the sugarcane crop on 2 acres of land. So, this year, we used our entire 10 acres for the sugarcane crop and were expecting Rs 10 lakh in return. Now the situation is such that not only have we lost our entire investment, we have lost our crop, our cows and buffaloes, and the farm land has suffered irreversible damage,” he says. The Lavate family is miffed at the government. “We thought that in a situation when 90 per cent of the village has taken a hit, the government would accord priority to conducting a panchnama in our village. But they are yet to turn up,” he says. Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Ministers Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde had recently toured flood-hit areas in Solapur district, but Undargaon was not on the itinerary. “Though we have been hit hard and our lives have been upended, neither the CM nor the deputy CMs thought it wise to visit us and comfort us. A few soothing words from them would have given us some relief,” he says, even as other farmers around him agree. ‘Never seen anything like this before’ Farmers from neighbouring villages like Sultanpur, Chavanwadi, Tandalwadi, and Darphal have similar tales to share. “Of the 500 houses in our village, at least 400 were underwater. While many villagers lost their household items and grains, some salvaged them by storing them on the terraces of their two-storied houses,” says Ruturaj Sawant, the sarpanch of Wakav village. Ruturaj is the nephew of Shiv Sena leader Tanaji Sawant. When the Seena River was in spate, Wakav was surrounded by water. “Our elders who are in their 80s or 90s told us that they have never seen anything like this before,” says Ruturaj. Vithoba Desai agrees. “I am 80 years old. In all these years, I do not remember flood water even touching the threshold of our village. My house and all household items have been damaged. The government keeps saying that it will extend help. But my question is, where is your help?” asks Desai. Ruturaj, who himself lost standing crop on 45 acres of land, says farmers have suffered an incalculable loss. “ I do not think that sugar factories will purchase the sugarcane in the present condition. The crop has suffered huge damage. Farmers whose entire families are dependent on sugarcane will have a bleak future. It will be difficult for them to grow another crop unless they replace the entire soil, which is a costly proposition,” he says. “My family lost our entire sugarcane and maize crop on 45 acres of land. We had invested more than Rs 10 to Rs 15 lakh,” he adds. Nana Shelar, another farmer from Wakav village, says many farmers are in a state of shock. “Some have taken bank loans, some have borrowed money from friends and relatives. If the government does not release adequate compensation, the farmers will struggle to cope. In Wakav, 90 per cent of the families, that is 400 homes, have been affected. We are comforting each other in the hope that bigger assistance from the government will arrive and we will be able to rebuild our lives,” he says. The aid is something that Machhindra Patil, 37, a farmer from Kevad village in Madha taluka, is also counting on. Though Patil is better off than most of his peers as the sugarcane crop on 6-7 acres of his land is unaffected, he is still counting losses from the crop damaged on 7 acres. “The soil has been washed away. This means, if I have to rebuild the farm, I will have to bring in fresh soil. For each acre of land, soil will cost more than Rs 1.5 lakh. Effectively, I will have to shell out more than Rs 5 lakh. Where will I bring the money from? I have already taken a loan of Rs 2.5 lakh from two banks,” he says.
