212 Maha villages reel from water crisis

Several parts of Maharashtra are reeling under water crisis, even before the onset of summer.

The state government on Thursday said 212 villages and 1,203 wadas (hamlets) are facing severe water crisis as water sources have dried.

The administration has deployed 230 water tankers to reach out to the villages.

Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan has been flooded with petitions from elected members across Marathwada, Vidarbha and parts of western Maharashtra complaining about the water crisis in their constituencies.

“The official statistics are grossly underestimating the water crisis. The reality is frightening. The number of villages hit by water crisis is not less than 2,500. It will affect 10,000 villages in March,” said a Congress MLA on condition of anonymity.

Senior cabinet ministers have informed the chief minister about the water crisis, urging him to set aside at least Rs150crore budget to tackle it.

The districts facing drinking water crisis are Nashik, Satara, Nagpur, Pune, Sangli, Solapur, Amravati, Akola, Buldhana and Beed.

“The situation appears grave compared to last year. Last year in February-end, we got complaints about the crisis from 12 villages where bullock carts ferried water to villages,” said a secretary in ministry of water resources.

“Despite budget allocation up to Rs8,000 crore every year, the government has not been able to solve the problem,” said sources in the government.

The policy decision to allow private bore wells for irrigation has led to a decline in the underground water table.

The government has not succeeded in utilising rain water.

The Konkan and parts of western Maharashtra which received rains up to 2,000 mm is often drained into Arabian sea. Only 10-15% of the rainfall water is used.