Ray of hope in drought belts

Eleven fund-guzzling dam projects taken up over the years in the region have failed to bring water to these parched belts. But,now,an initiative in water conservation,spearheaded by the state government and backed by an unexpected spell of rain in the last week of September,has finally brought cheer to the villagers.

Instead of focusing merely on drought-relief operations,the state government,with an aim to make these belts water sufficient,took up an integrated watershed management programme (IWMP) this year. The initiative included construction of a series of cement check dams,farm ponds,percolation tanks,revitalisation of old bunds and wells,de-silting and augmentation of local water sources,among other things,said Deepender Singh Kushwaha,Collector,Sangli,which accounted for 368 of the 2,200 villages.

The results were almost immediate,said Dr N Ramaswamy,Collector of the neighbouring Satara district where about 797 villages had been declared drought-hit.

Kushwaha said there had been a marked improvement in the groundwater levels. In Daflapur,for instance,the groundwater table had dropped to -6.92 m in 2012. Following the initiative this year,it has now recovered to -0.22. In Sangli’s Atapadi village,the groundwater table has risen from -0.96m to +0.87 m.

Additional water storage capacity has been created in each village due to the construction of cement check dams,and training of existing water bodies. With over 2,000 cement check dams completed,an additional water storage capacity of 8.5 TMC,equivalent to water contained in 2.38 crore water tankers,has been created,according to Pune Divisional Commissioner Vikas Deshmukh’s office.

Destiny too is smiling on the villagers. The unexpected rain spell in September has meant that these new water storage bodies are brimming over. Ashwini Hatale (10),also from Daflapur,has been bathing every day since last week. Her mother said this was a luxury her family could not afford earlier.

The availability of water has meant that local farmers have already begun sowing in advance for the rabi crop. Mohan Hipparkar,a farmer of the Sangola taluka in Solapur,said he was hoping for a bumper crop this year. Wife Janaka recounted that her family was forced to work in sugarcane farms owned by others during the protracted drought.

Narayan Bhonsale,31,who resides in Sangli’s Utaghi taluka,said he even had trouble in finding a life partner due to the drought conditions.

According to officials,the locals had a major role to play in the initiative’s success. “Locals pitched in voluntarily in the work for setting up cement check dams,” said a senior official. The fact that the ray of hope has emerged within four months of launching the initiative and at a cost far less than the dam projects has been appreciated. Deshmukh’s office said about Rs 445 crore had been spent on the initiative so far. Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan now plans to replicate it across the state.

Some locals,however,argued that this was only a temporary solution. Subhash Kokade of the Pani Sangharsh Samiti,which represents 42 villages in Utaghi taluka,said the government had been deliberately denying them water from the Mhaisal canal system.