Vanpuri trust fills village ponds and weirs with Purandar lift scheme water at own cost

Saswad: Rain this monsoon fell short of expectations, leaving Purandar taluka with a water shortage. Farmers are already short of water for irrigation in October itself. They are worried about what will happen to the standing crops, and their struggle to save them has begun.

At such a time, Shri Bhairavnath Pratishthan of Vanpuri has come to the farmers' aid. The trust, which takes the lead in social work, has filled village ponds, weirs and streams in the area free of cost with water from the Purandar lift irrigation scheme. This has brought relief to farmers and crops.

This year's kharif season has just been got through, and the rabi season has now begun. Jowar has already been sown. Sowing of gram and wheat, the main crops, and other crops is under way. Onion planting is also seen under way in places. With milk fetching a good price, farmers are increasingly keeping livestock, so they are also growing fodder. With farm work in full swing, the water shortage has alarmed everyone.

Everyone is seen trying to keep the standing crops alive in the fields. Wells have already begun to touch bottom. Farmers face many questions: what will become of the crops, how will crops grow if there is no water, where will fodder for the animals come from for the whole year, and where will the year's grain come from.

Through Shri Bhairavnath Pratishthan, farmers in the village are helped to get information on government schemes and to obtain concessions and subsidies. Every year during the Navratri festival, the trust organises a pilgrimage to the Shirkai Devi temple at Shirkoli in Mulshi taluka. As usual, people in the village were eager to visit the goddess this year as well. But seeing the farmers' difficulty and the poor state of the crops, the trust decided that the darshan could be done next year, that saving the standing crops mattered more, and gave priority to that.

Santosh Rajabhau Kumbharkar, founder president of the trust, decided not to go for darshan this year and to supply water to farmland at his own cost through the Purandar lift irrigation scheme. Director Vasundhara Kumbharkar, and trust members Somnath Kumbharkar, Mahesh Magar, Manik Kumbharkar, Tukaram Mahamuni, Shantaram Kumbharkar, Santosh Kumbharkar, Mauli Kumbharkar, Sharad Kumbharkar, Sunil Kumbharkar, Dnyandev Khedekar, Kiran Kumbharkar and other members supported the decision. The members then paid at the scheme's office and had the village pond at Vanpuri, the weir at Sheri cha Mala and ponds in the area filled with water. After the ponds were filled, a water worship ceremony was held in the presence of all.

The water shortage is severe this year. The future of the crops, fodder for livestock and drinking water are major concerns. Water will have to be planned for the next few months, and it was decided to begin with themselves, it was said. The water will give the crops some support and help maintain the water level in wells and borewells in the area. If farmers ask, water will be supplied again after a few days.