Over 21 lakh north Maharashtra villagers struggle for water

NASHIK: Over 21.25 lakh people in rural North Maharashtra face acute water crisis. More than 50% of these villagers are in Ahmednagar district, followed by Nashik. The tribal dominated Nandurbar district has the least number of affected villagers, and the acute water scarcity is restricted to a part of one taluka of the district.
Latest data from the Nashik divisional commissionerate revealed that these affected villagers are from about 4,500 villages, big and small, in these five districts. Presently 1,226 tankers have been pressed into service, mainly in Ahmednagar and Nashik.
With poor rain during the last monsoon and scorching conditions at present, all water sources have dried. “The situation in Ahmednagar and Nashik is grim. With the monsoon still more than a month away, the situation could further deteriorate,” a government officer said.
As far as Ahmednagar district is concerned, the majority of 961 villages reeling under acute water scarcity are in the southern part of the district, which falls in a rain shadow region. There are no dams in that part, and residents depend on dams in Pune to meet water needs.
The Nashik divisional commissionerate wrote to the district collectors of the five districts to send the amount they require for taking up water related schemes. “Once the details come to us, we would be sending it to the state government, with details of the money needed for these five districts to tackle water scarcity,” an official said.
Sources in the chief minister’s office (CMO) said CM Devendra Fadnavis is likely to review the drought situation in the affected districts soon. “The chief minister will review water supply related schemes in each of these districts and issue instructions to the officials during the meeting,” a source in the CMO said.
The Ahmednagar district guardian minister, Ram Shinde, admitted that the situation in his district as ‘worrisome’. “In our district we had taken up water conservation schemes in a big way. But since rains failed last year, these projects were no help. The district administration is going all out to help affected villagers by providing tankers and establishing cattle camps,” Shinde said.
Even Nashik guardian minister and state water resources minister Girish Mahajan toured various parts of Nashik district on Monday and assured all assistance to affected villagers and cattle.