For years, the monsoon has been stingy with Maharashtra's Akola district, but when it did rain, a section of Sanjay Tikde's farm would get flooded and disintegrate, the precious soil streaming away. Nobody in the administration agreed to help him. So the 42-year-old farmer sold part of his 10-acre farm for 55 lakhs and used 20 lakhs to build a makeshift dam. The construction, which began in March, will be completed by the end of this month, just in time for this year’s monsoon.
