Drought In Marathwada

Widespread agitations will be held if the Uddhav Thackeray government tries to halt or slow down projects started by the earlier BJP-led dispensation to tackle drought in Maharashtra's Marathwada region, former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Monday.

As many as six out of nine major dams that supply water to urban and rural areas in Maharashtra's drought-prone Marathwada region continue to face shortage, the data released by the irrigation department stated on Friday.

A water grid project and lifting water from Konkan to the Godavari basin will make droughts in Marathwada "history", Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis claimed on Tuesday.

In the parched region of Marathwada in Maharashtra, the use of tankers - usually meant to be the last resort amid water shortage - is on a rise.

Maharashtra is among the states that have witnessed maximum farmer suicides and much of it has been blamed on successive droughts, which many say can be prevented with better water management especially in areas like Marathwada that get less rainfall.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today announced a Rs 49,248 crore development 'package' for Marathwada region, under which important projects, including irrigation and infrastructure, will be completed in a time-bound manner.

Marathwada, the central Maharashtra region which faced severe droughts in the last four years, now has a problem of plenty with incessant rains causing flooding in many parts.

Rajshree Gungoo, a chatty 27-year-old with a quick smile, speaks up at a gathering of about 40 women discussing the challenges facing single women in Maharashtra. “It’s very difficult. I don’t have a husband, I don’t have a son, even my father doesn’t want me,” she says, her voice breaking. “I am alone and powerless to do anything.”...

In what could be an answer to an uncertain monsoon and crippling drought, China may soon provide cloud-seeding technology to drought-hit Marathwada region in Maharashtra to induce rain and train the staff of local meteorological department.

In stark contrast to what they were just a week ago, partially-filled nullahs and replenished wells can be seen across Kalegaon village in Maharahstra's drought-hit Beed district.

Where is the monsoon? A question that cotton farmer Govardhan Ghadage thought was already answered with the Met Department's positive forecast. But with pre monsoon showers too vanishing in drought hit Marathwada's Beed district, Mr Ghadage is fearing the worst. As seeds worth Rs 15,000 that have already been sown are now at risk.

In parched Latur in Maharashtra, a team of BJP lawmakers reviewing welfare schemes was greeted with fireworks on Sunday. The opposition as well as BJP's ally Shiv Sena have called it shameful and insensitive in a region in which farmers are living in despair.

The BJP-led Government in Maharashtra has declared drought in over 29,000 villages of the state, mostly in parched Marathwada and Vidarbha regions where the grim situation was earlier described as 'drought-like.'

13-year-old Vishwambhar Shinde loved learning Marathi and playing at his school in Maharashtra’s Marathwada region. But now he has to work as a waiter at a roadside dhaba or eatery in the Aurangabad district as the drought has destroyed his father’s mosambi or sweet lime crop. “I had to discontinue my education as my father couldn’t pay for...

Water is needed both in life and death. But the scarcity in Maharashtra's Marathwada has reached such proportions that people are being forced to buy water for the last rites of their loved ones.

Widespread agitations will be held if the Uddhav Thackeray government tries to halt or slow down projects started by the earlier BJP-led dispensation to tackle drought in Maharashtra's Marathwada region, former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Monday.

As many as six out of nine major dams that supply water to urban and rural areas in Maharashtra's drought-prone Marathwada region continue to face shortage, the data released by the irrigation department stated on Friday.

A water grid project and lifting water from Konkan to the Godavari basin will make droughts in Marathwada "history", Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis claimed on Tuesday.

In the parched region of Marathwada in Maharashtra, the use of tankers - usually meant to be the last resort amid water shortage - is on a rise.

Maharashtra is among the states that have witnessed maximum farmer suicides and much of it has been blamed on successive droughts, which many say can be prevented with better water management especially in areas like Marathwada that get less rainfall.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today announced a Rs 49,248 crore development 'package' for Marathwada region, under which important projects, including irrigation and infrastructure, will be completed in a time-bound manner.

Marathwada, the central Maharashtra region which faced severe droughts in the last four years, now has a problem of plenty with incessant rains causing flooding in many parts.

Rajshree Gungoo, a chatty 27-year-old with a quick smile, speaks up at a gathering of about 40 women discussing the challenges facing single women in Maharashtra. “It’s very difficult. I don’t have a husband, I don’t have a son, even my father doesn’t want me,” she says, her voice breaking. “I am alone and powerless to do anything.”...

In what could be an answer to an uncertain monsoon and crippling drought, China may soon provide cloud-seeding technology to drought-hit Marathwada region in Maharashtra to induce rain and train the staff of local meteorological department.

In stark contrast to what they were just a week ago, partially-filled nullahs and replenished wells can be seen across Kalegaon village in Maharahstra's drought-hit Beed district.

Where is the monsoon? A question that cotton farmer Govardhan Ghadage thought was already answered with the Met Department's positive forecast. But with pre monsoon showers too vanishing in drought hit Marathwada's Beed district, Mr Ghadage is fearing the worst. As seeds worth Rs 15,000 that have already been sown are now at risk.

In parched Latur in Maharashtra, a team of BJP lawmakers reviewing welfare schemes was greeted with fireworks on Sunday. The opposition as well as BJP's ally Shiv Sena have called it shameful and insensitive in a region in which farmers are living in despair.

The BJP-led Government in Maharashtra has declared drought in over 29,000 villages of the state, mostly in parched Marathwada and Vidarbha regions where the grim situation was earlier described as 'drought-like.'

13-year-old Vishwambhar Shinde loved learning Marathi and playing at his school in Maharashtra’s Marathwada region. But now he has to work as a waiter at a roadside dhaba or eatery in the Aurangabad district as the drought has destroyed his father’s mosambi or sweet lime crop. “I had to discontinue my education as my father couldn’t pay for...

Water is needed both in life and death. But the scarcity in Maharashtra's Marathwada has reached such proportions that people are being forced to buy water for the last rites of their loved ones.