35 tankers supply water to 39 villages in Man, Khatav and Phaltan talukas of drought-hit Satara
The Satara administration is serving 54,257 people and 41,107 cattle in 236 hamlets, while villages in Karad's Masur East area also face drought-like conditions.
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People in the drought-hit areas of Satara district are having to search for water. The district administration is supplying water through a total of 35 tankers to 39 villages and 236 hamlets in three talukas: Man, Khatav and Phaltan. Of these tankers, one is government-owned and 34 are private.
According to the administration, the arrangement is meant to serve 54,257 people and 41,107 cattle in these villages and hamlets. To ease the shortage, the administration has also acquired 16 wells and 9 borewells.
Man taluka is the worst affected. Thirty-one villages and 200 hamlets with a population of 45,702 are hit, and 38,972 cattle in the taluka are also caught in the crisis. A total of 30 tankers are running in Man, of which one is government-owned and 29 are private. Ten wells and six borewells have also been acquired. Tankers are supplying water to villages in the Dahiwadi, Shingnapur, Mhaswad, Mardi, Varkute Malwadi, Malwadi, Andhli and Kukudwad circles.
In Khatav taluka, 7,833 people in 7 villages and 36 hamlets are getting water from 4 private tankers. Six wells and three borewells have been acquired here. Water is being distributed to villages in the Mayani, Khatav, Budh and Kaledhon areas.
In Phaltan taluka, one private tanker has been started for 722 people in a village in Dudhebavi circle. The administration is now trying to give relief to people in the shortage-hit areas through tanker trips and the acquisition of wells.
Drought has been declared in some talukas of Satara district. Even so, drought-like conditions have developed in many villages of the Masur East area of Karad taluka. The lack of rain has caused heavy damage to kharif crops. The question of drinking water, along with water for farming, is becoming more serious by the day.
The eastern part of the Masur area, including the villages of Risvad, Antvadi, Gaikwadwadi, Gholapwadi, Hanbarwadi, Nigdi, Khodjaiwadi, Chikhli, Kival, Banugdewadi, Gosavewadi and Helgaon, always faces water shortage. The area along the Pune-Bengaluru highway and the riverside look green, so it is assumed that the condition of the whole area is the same. As a result, villages in the hilly and unirrigated areas do not get the full benefit of drought relief schemes.
Some villages in this area have to arrange tankers for drinking water in the summer months anyway. Rainfall this year has been poor, so the water crisis has deepened. With not enough water for farming, farmers face a big challenge.
