Marathwada drought destroys 25 percent of crop, farmers demand direct aid

Drought has struck Maharashtra again this year in a severe form. With rain absent for a month and a half to two months, crops have dried up in the fields, women are having to walk long distances for drinking water, and young men are being forced to leave their villages in search of work because there is no employment. The Marathwada region is currently going through this harsh phase.

In Nanded district, conditions have become so bad that women farmers cannot hold back tears at the sight of the ruined crop standing in their fields. On one side farmers stand helpless in their fields, while on the other, a stream of administrative visits and political meetings continues uninterrupted. Angered by this, farmers in Nanded have told the government bluntly, "We do not want paper surveys, we want direct help."

In the Talni and Kanchannagar areas of Nanded district, the severity of the drought is visible to the eye. Because of the long gap in rainfall, the soyabean and cotton crop has completely dried up. From above the field looks green, but the soyabean pods have no grain in them, making it difficult even to recover the cost put into the crop.

Farmer Atmaram Tekale of Dabhad village (Ardhapur taluka) describes this helplessness standing in his dried-up field. He said, "The standing crop has dried up, there is no grain in the pods, so how do we harvest this crop now and how do we recover the labour cost?"

The biggest burden of this crisis is falling on the women of these families. Since September, villagers have had to travel two kilometres to fetch drinking water. In a season when heavy rain is normally expected, people are instead walking for water, and women are in tears thinking about how the difficult months ahead will pass.

The drought's effect is not limited to farming alone. With no work left in the fields, labourers who live on daily wages have empty hands. Because of the shortage of money, school and college students are having to head to cities like Pune and Mumbai to support themselves and their families. Farmers are caught in a triple bind: crop loss on one side, lack of employment on another, and a crisis over children's education on the third.

Political leaders and administrative officers arrived at the edges of the fields to assess the situation, but seeing that, as always, only surveys and panchnamas were taking place, angry farmers directly challenged the administration: "Let the officers walk through the entire field and pull out one kilo of soyabean and show it to us; in return, we will collect money from the whole village and feed them one quintal of cashew, almond and pistachio." This jibe was not just anger but the outpouring of farmers' helplessness and sense of injustice.

All eight districts of Marathwada have been badly hit by the gap in rainfall, and according to initial estimates, around 25 percent of the crop has been destroyed. Major losses have hit key crops such as soyabean, cotton, maize and tur. The same situation prevails in several areas including Nandgaon taluka of Nashik district.

Local people are directly comparing the current situation to the historic drought of 1972, but farming today is worlds apart from farming then. Today the cost of seeds, fertiliser, pesticides and spraying has risen enormously, so as soon as the crop is lost, farmers face a heavy burden of debt.

Given the seriousness of the situation, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader Jayant Patil has demanded that Maharashtra immediately declare a drought, on the lines of Karnataka. Sharad Pawar has also written to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis requesting that loan waivers, crop insurance, fodder camps, water tankers and MGNREGA work be started immediately.

Taking note of the farmers' anger, the state cabinet meeting held in Mumbai took important decisions. At the meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, it was decided to form a cabinet sub-committee for drought relief in the state. Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule will head this committee, which has been given full authority to take immediate decisions on the drought.

The meeting also decided that, based on the data received so far, the first preliminary drought notification will be issued by Saturday. All ministers and elected representatives will visit fields directly to assess the situation and hear farmers' complaints. A proposal for assistance will be sent to the central government as per NDRF norms, but the state government will begin immediate help from its own treasury without waiting for central funds.

At present no district in the state has been officially declared fully drought-affected, but Agriculture Minister Dattatray Bharne has toured various areas to assess the situation. The e-panchnama process is moving swiftly, and final data will be compiled after September 30.

Once the report from the Relief and Rehabilitation Department is finalised by October 5, the proposal to be sent to the central government and the final shape of relief work in the state will be decided. This proposal will include steps such as a 25 percent advance on crop insurance, waiver of education fees, hostel grants, and speeding up MGNREGA work. More important than figures recorded on paper and government meetings is that help reaches farmers directly and on time. All of Maharashtra is watching what concrete decision the government takes on October 5.