1. Drought of equity
Author(s): Aparna Pallavi, Akshay Deshmane
Issue Date: 2013-3-31
A large part of Maharashtra has been declared drought-hit. But distribution of water is quite
incongruous. While the few who are politically and financially powerful take the lion’s share
for sugarcane crops, thermal plants and other industries, the rest are struggling to survive.
The government has failed to deal with the crisis, report Aparna Pallavi and Akshay
Deshmane from the state
Stark yellow hills
surround a fodder
camp at Salse
village in
Maharashtra’s
Solapur district. In
the afternoon heat,
cattle desultorily
munch on hard
chunks of
sugarcane, while
farmers doze in
nooks of shade. The
picture of drought is
dismal. But the lush
green banana
plantation barely
500 feet away is puzzling.
“Maybe that farmer has a borewell,” says farmer Motiram Gadge. “Many powerful people
here are growing banana and sugarcane despite the drought.” Gadge’s animals walk 14
kilometres every day to a fast-drying dam to drink water.
On the face of it, the severe drought defies explanation. The drought-affected area received
60 to 70 per cent rainfall this year against the state average of 90 to 92 per cent. This is
deficient but not deficient enough to cause drought of this magnitude. Fourteen districts in
Marathwada, Khandesh and south Maharashtra have been declared drought-hit. More than
11,000 villages are facing water crisis and 3,905 villages have suffered more than 50 per cent
crop loss.
Figure 1A farmer goes down to the dry bed of Babhulgaon dam in Osmanabad to fetch his
cattle (Photo: Aparna Pallavi)

2. Comparing this year’s drought to that in 1972, the most severe in recent history, Bharat
Patankar, a senior drought mitigation and dam displacement activist, says the rich and the
poor alike were forced to migrate in 1972. This time the landscape shows alternate patches of
acute scarcity and abundance. Water-intensive cane and banana crops stand cheek-by-jowl
with withered jowar seedlings. The failure of the rainfed jowar crop has caused a severe
fodder crisis, but unlike 1972, sugarcane has not just survived but is in excess, and being fed
to animals as fodder.
Unlike in 1972, the current drought is characterised by a severe drinking water crisis, both for
humans and cattle. Significantly, villages with highest acreage of sugarcane are also the
worse hit by drinking water crisis.
All Set For The Summer?
It is still many months before water-starved Maharashtra gets rainfall. But government
officials say the situation is comfortable. “The state government has already invested Rs
2,000 crore in relief measures,” says Milind Mhaiskar, state secretary for relief and
rehabilitation. “As many as 1,700 piped water projects are being set up in urban and rural
areas to ensure drinking water. Fodder camps are also being set up. Another Rs 1,000 crore
has been sanctioned for the remaining summer months,” he says. But the situation does not
seem so hunky-dory. As per government’s plan water for the new projects will be sourced
from Jayakwadi and Ujni dams, which are already asking for water. Besides, if all is well,
why did Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar announce that Maharashtra will buy water from
Almatti dam in Karnataka to meet its drinking water requirement? Negotiations are on for
this, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan had said on March 2. On March 10, government
instructed the Mumbai police prepare itself for a water-related conflict.
Like many other farmers, Rahul Kargode of Pali village in Beed district pays Rs 200 for 500
litres of drinking water to private tanker owners every second or third day. He uses the water
to save his standing sugarcane crop. But his new sugarcane crop has withered. The borewell
he had installed a few years ago has gone dry. In Pathrud village of Osmanabad district,
Taramati Wadke, who runs a small eatery, shells out Rs 300 daily for 800 litres of tanker
water. “The price has doubled since November. If it increases further I don’t know how I will
pay,” she says.
This apart, unethical water consumption continues unabated even in the face of drought.
While Aurangabad, Solapur and Beed districts reel from drinking water crisis, unscrupulous
use of water in golf courses, water parks and swimming pools is rising every day. Parli
thermal power plant in Beed was shut down in February due to water crisis, even as
breweries and distilleries in Aurangabad flourish. The biggest paradox, however, is that the
drought has hit a state that has the largest network of dams in the country.
War Over Water
Thirty-six per cent of the country’s dams are in Maharashtra. But politically and financially
powerful groups almost always grab the lion’s share of water. Conflicts exist between water

3. users upstream and downstream, industry and agriculture, urban and rural users and even
village-level political groups.
According to the Maharashtra Water Resources Regulatory Authority (MWRRA) Act, 2005,
there should be equal distribution of water to all projects in a river basin during water crisis.
In November 2012, water in Jayakwadi dam, on the Godavari river in Aurangabad, dropped
to two per cent of its storage capacity of 107 thousand million cubic feet (tmc).
But upstream dams in Pune and Nashik regions, which were 81 to 92 per cent full, did not
release water. Jayakwadi dam supplies water to four cities, 200 villages, the 1,130-megawatt
Parli power plant in Beed, and the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporations
(MIDCs) in five districts. While Jayakwadi dam had less water for use, Ujni dam in southern
Maharashtra, the third largest in Maharashtra, had not water that could be used. Again,
upstream dams did not release water. Ujni provides water to Solapur town and about 40
villages.
Angry farmers and civil society groups launched a fierce agitation, asking for release of water
even as they faced stiff resistance from political and farmers’ groups upstream. On November
27, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan asked for release of water to Jayakwadi. A total of 8.5
tmc was released from four dams, that too under heavy police protection. “The resistance is
shocking. The water was not for industry or agriculture. It was for drinking,” says Vijay
Diwan of non-profit Nisarga Mitra Mandal in Aurangabad.
Ujni dam has not got water yet. The conflict is likely to intensify as summer progresses, says
Diwan. The contenders upstream are the industrially advanced Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad
cities, while downstream it is the powerful sugar lobby.
“Jayakwadi and Ujni were constructed to meet the water needs of people living near this arid
region. Later, projects were sanctioned upstream, which diverted water to the water-rich parts
of Pune and Nasik,” says Diwan. In the past 10 years, Jayakwadi has not filled up to its
capacity. The conflict has defeated the purpose for which the two dams were built, he says.
Driver Of The Conflict
The fight is because of the legal mess in water governance, says Pradeep Purandare, former
professor at the Water and Land Management Institute, Aurangabad. According to the
Maharashtra Irrigation Act (MIA) of 1976, all irrigation projects and their command areas
should be notified under it. Thirty-seven years later, the Act has not been implemented
because their rules have not been framed. “The irrigation department does not have the power
to take action and prevent water diversions from agricultural land for non-agricultural
purposes like industry,” he says.
To complicate matters, in 2005 two water sector reform legislations—MWRRA Act and
Management of Irrigation Systems by Farmers Act—were passed on the premise that MIA
1976 is brought into force. Besides, two water governance bodies were constituted—State

4. Water Board and State Water Authority—to prepare Integrated State Water Plan. Neither has
held a meeting in the past eight years.
Even basic governance is difficult in absence of infrastructure, prescribed procedures for
measuring water use, irrigated area, evaporation, siltation, conveyance loss and theft. But
Pramod Mandade, state deputy secretary denies absence of a working mechanism. “Too
precise mechanisms were not needed when there was ample water,” he says (see ‘All set for
the summer?’).
With no clear reference point for governance, malpractices have become easy, says
Purandare. “The process of sanctioning projects is in the hands of unscrupulous politicians,”
he alleges.
Engineer Of Scarcity
Sugarcane has sapped Maharashtra dry, but government is unwilling to curb its growth
Sugarcane has cut
into the acreage of
traditional millet
crops, crucial for
fodder
Ghoti, a village in
the severely
drought-hit Solapur
district, is facing
accute drinking
water crisis. It also
has the dubious
distinction of having
6,000 borewells for
its 3,000-odd residents and about 40 hectares (ha) of standing sugarcane crop. Till about 15
years ago the village had no water worries. Things changed after two sugar factories were set
up in the neighbouring Karmala and Barshi tehsils. Farmers started growing sugarcane in
large tracts of land. Water that came from Ujni dam was enough for irrigation. But when
monsoons failed in 2011 and 2012, they started drilling borewells in desperate bids to save
their crops.
Balasaheb Raut, who owns 2.4 ha in the village, has drilled six borewells. In Latur district,
150 borewells are drilled every day. Water, that was once available four metres below
ground, has plummetted to about 200 metres.
Relief Activities

5. Rs 91 crore given to Jalna and Osmanabad for water supply schemes
Government to pay lift irrigation electric bills for filling up water sources in Sangli and
Satara from various irrigation projects
Rs 413.98 crore to water supply department for supply during crisis
Rs 25 crore for transferring water from Tembhoo irrigation project to Birnal tank in Sangli
Rs 25 lakh and Rs 1 crore respectively to district collectors to repair existing water supply
schemes and to create new ones
2.136 tankers delivering water to 1,663 villages, 4,490 hamlets
23,224 new works under MGNREGS for 223,000 workers
MGNREGS wage raised to Rs 180
553 fodder camps set up for 452,000 cattle in drought districts
Rs 749.29 crore distributed for running fodder camps. Rs 329.73 crore spent till date
Yet, six per cent of the state’s cultivated area is occupied by the water-guzzling sugarcane.
One hectare of sugarcane ensures that at least four hectares of other crops are deprived of
water. “Its water footprint is alarming,” says D M More, former director general of the state
government’s water resource department. “At present, sugarcane alone consumes water
equivalent to the total storage capacity of all dams in Maharashtra,” he says. More runs non-
profit Maharashtra Sinchan Sahayog and has done a two-year study on the impact of
sugarcane crop in the state.
Excessive digging of borewells is drying up acquifers. Villages that have standing sugarcane
crops are most likely the ones which are buying drinking water from private tanker owners,
he says. “There is a growing feeling among people that they are being deprived of their
rightful share of drinking water even as others’ crop flourish,” says Madhav Chitale, head of
the Maharashtra Water and Irrigation Commission, 1999.
Sugarcane has also cut into the acreage of traditional millet crops, which are crucial for
fodder, says Ramesh Bhise of Beed-based non-profit Jan Vikas, which works with marginal
farmers. “This accounts for the acute fodder crisis. This year, millet straw for fodder is
fetching three times the price of sugarcane in the market.”
Sugar Politics: Not So Sweet
The second Maharashtra Water and Irrigation Commission 1999 recommends a cap on new
sugar factories in water-deficit river basins, and shifting of sugar factories out of drought-
prone areas. The 1999 Godbole committee, constituted to investigate sick sugar cooperatives,
had made a similar recommendation. D K Pal, former head of Division of Soil Studies,

6. National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Nagpur, says his institution has
repeatedly recommended a return to traditional rainfed crops of the region such as legume
and oilseed. Canal irrigation, which is used to extend sugarcane acreage, is detrimental to arid
soil, he says. “In some districts such as Dhule and Ahmednagar, salinity caused by cane
cultivation has rendered huge patches of land unfit for cultivation.”
But the government has ignored all such recommendations.
Chitale admits that sugarcane has damaged the region’s
agro-economy, fuelled drought and caused water-strife but
does not say why the recommendations were ignored.
Umakant Dangat, state agriculture commissioner, blames
sugarcane for the drought but says agriculture department
is helpless because its jurisdiction is limited to
recommending drips and sprinklers for water conservation.
The reason for this conspiracy of silence is the political
clout sugar cooperatives wield. Almost all sugar factories
in the state are controlled by powerful politicians. Thirteen
of the 30 ministers in the state Cabinet are either sugar
factory owners or heads of sugar cooperatives. Policy
measures are, therefore, dictated by the sugar lobby.
Figures are for the year 2009-2010 Source: Vasantdada
Sugar Institute, Pune (for sugar); Maharashtra Agriculture
Contingency Plans (for rainfall)
Figures in
million cubic
metres;
Percentage of
storage
capacity of
dams in the region Source: Maharashtra Water
Resources Department
“When proposals for dams are prepared, sugar
factories are not mentioned, though 90 per cent
of irrigation water is monopolised by sugarcane
cultivation and sugar processing units,” says
Dwarkanath Lohia, member of State Water
Conservation Advisory Council.
The number of sugar factories in the state has
increased from 119 in 1999 to 200. Proposals to
set up more factories in water-deficit areas are
being considered by the Central government.

7. Since most of the sugar from Maharashtra is exported, Solapur collector K M Nagzode had
proposed that crushing of sugarcane should be suspended this year. Crushing one tonne of
sugarcane takes up
400 litres of water.
The proposal was
shot down by
politicians.
“Politics here is
controlled entirely
by the sugar lobby,
right from the village level,” says Bhise. “Politicians determine who will be the sarpanch,
who will get big contracts and who will get irrigation water. This year, they have grabbed
contracts for running fodder camps, which should logically go to milk cooperatives,” he says.
Meaningless
Measures
The state
government
proposes to remedy
the situation by
converting all
sugarcane
cultivation from
flood to drip
irrigation within
three years. Union
Agriculture
Minister Sharad
Pawar has
announced Rs 1,000
crore for the purpose. According to More, drip irrigation is significant to prevent drought.
However, he warns, the change will work only if the number of sugar factories are reduced
and sugarcane acreage is redistributed rationally in the state. A major share should go to high
rainfall Konkan and eastern Vidarbha regions where jaggery-making was traditionally
practised, he says.
Sustainable Alternative
Twenty-two years ago, Suresh Desai designed a mulch-based sugarcane farming technique
that reduced the crop’s water requirement. He reduced the irrigation channels in his farm by
half and converted every alternate channel into beds of mulch using waste sugarcane straw.
This brought down the crop’s water consumption. Within three months, the soil structure
improved and he was able to reduce the number of channels further, applying water to just
Residents of Hastapokhri in Jalna district draw water from the lone well in the village. It has
little more than silt left (Photo: Akshay Deshmane)

8. two channels for six rows of sugarcane. He also started intercropping legumes with cane.
Desai, who now heads the Organic Farmers Club in Belgaum, Karnataka, says the technique
is more effective than drip irrigation as it not only saves water and improves soil fertility, but
also needs no external inputs.
“An upper limit for sugarcane acreage should be set for each farming family. At present, rich
farmers have monopolised both sugarcane and irrigation,” says Lohia.
“Farmers who shift to drip irrigation save money and use it to extend their sugarcane
acreage,” says Lohia. The State Economic Survey for 2011-12 reveals that subsidy worth Rs
1,134.82 crore has been provided for installation of drips and sprinklers on 612,000 ha since
2005. It has not increased the irrigated area.
Farmers say that in a situation as severe as the current drought, drips do not work. In 2012,
Savita and Malhari Deshmukh of Pisore village in Ahmadnagar invested Rs 1.25 lakh to
convert their 2.5-ha lemon and sweetlime orchards to drip irrigation.
But their crops still do not get enough water. “We were banking on water from Kukkadi
canal. Without it, the drip is wasted investment,” says Malhari.
Organic farmers say drip farming requires huge investments and maintenance (see
‘Sustainable alternative’). Besides, drip sets need to be replaced every few years.
Industry Saves, Too
Many companies have taken water conservation measures, but is it enough?
Threat of a bigger crisis in the next few months has pushed industry to adopt water
conservation measures. “Unavailability of water cannot be an issue that should affect
production. Treating and using recycled water is possible,” says Sushil Haksar, director
general of Association of Distillers, Brewers and Vintners of India.
Since the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation has made substantial cuts in
water supply, “the focus has shifted to conservation, monitoring wastage and recycling,” says
Sunil Raithatha, president of Chamber of Marathwada Industries and Agriculture. “Our
members have reduced water consumption by 40-50 per cent,” he says.
Crisis In Thermal Plants
Vidarbha recieved average rainfall this year. But crisis in the next few years seems imminent
considering the number of projects planned along the rivers in the state, says Sudhir Paliwal,
joint secretary of Vidarbha Industries Association and convener of Vidarbha Environment
Action Group.
As many as 140 thermal plants with a collective capacity of 55,000 MW have been planned
for the region. “In Chandrapur district alone, 27 new plants are proposed along the Wardha,”
says Yogiraj Doodhpachare, environment scientist at Janata Mahavidyalaya in Chandrapur.

9. Till date, power plants in Vidarbha have received a whopping 2,049 million cubic metre
(mcm) from irrigation projects in the region.
The state’s largest thermal plant, the 2,340-MW Chandrapur Super Thermal Power Station,
may face problems as its two new units will get operational by year- end, says Doodhpachare.
Industrial water demand in Vidarbha is likely to rise too. In February, Chief Minister
Prithviraj Chavan announced many textile and cement units in the region. Maharashtra has a
history of having skewed priorities. In its water policy, the state gave priority to industry over
agriculture in making allocations in 2003. It was only in 2011 that agriculture was restored as
the second priority after drinking water.
A study by Pune-based non-profit Prayas reveals the total volume of diversions since the
inception of dam projects till 2010 in the state was 2,886.15 tmc, a whopping 77 per cent of
storage capacity of all irrigation projects in the state. This means 257,000 ha agricultural land
is water deprived. Fifty-four per cent of the diverted water has gone to industry. Of the 46 per
cent allocated for drinking water, 96 per cent went to urban area and just one per cent was
allocated for rural drinking water. Of the water diverted to industry, 61 per cent was for coal-
based power plants. Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation got 21 per cent share,
while SEZs have grabbed 16 per cent. The remaining two per cent water has been given to
other industries.
Jalna-based Rajouri Steels has a 7 metre private dam spread over 10 hectares. It has a 20-
metre deep well for recharging groundwater. “Earlier, the dam would easily meet our annual
water requirement of 130 million litres. This year, due to scanty rainfall we faced water
crisis,” says D B Soni, the company’s managing director. Rajouri Steels is spending Rs 25-30
lakh daily on about 150,000 litres of water supplied by private tankers. Due to the water
crisis, production has been hit by at least 25 per cent. To save water, the company has started
using only half the power it gets during the day and is operating steel bar manufacturing plant
at full power during the nights. Water requirement in the manufacturing process rises during
daytime due to evaporation. To maintain moisture in the soil, the company has planted nearly
2,000 trees in its compound.
Maharashtra State Power Generation Company Limited has not faced water crisis this year
because it has raised the height of Irai dam by one metre to enhance storage. All its new
plants have been designed with effluent treatment plants, says Anil Nandanwar, executive
director of the power company. He, however, admits that since a large number of thermal
plants have been proposed on the Wardha, there might be scarcity in future. As a
pecautionary measure all the new plants are designed for zero disposal through installation of
effluent treatment plants to recover 100 per cent of the water used for ash disposal, says
Nandanwar. The older plants are being upgraded with the installation of effluent treatment
plants.
Many breweries have reduced their dependence on water tankers by using reverse osmosis
(RO) plants. S G Patil, general manager at Radico N V Distilleries Maharashtra limited,

10. claims installation of a Rs 4 crore RO plant has helped cut time and water consumed during
the fermentation process. Water recovered from the fermentation process is reused to
manufacture extra-nutrient alcohol, or spirit.
In mid-February, Atul Singh, chairperson of FICCI Water Mission, said the mission plans to
form a water disclosure framework where all industries will give details of the amount of
water they use. “Emphasis will be on reduce, recycle and replenish water,” he says. This
apart, research is being undertaken to devise a strategy and find innovative solutions to
counter the water challenges Maharashtra is facing, he says. A collaborative model is being
worked out where the government, industry and civil society will come together. It will be
called the Golden Triangle, he says. Only time will tell how effective all these measures will
be.
A Watershed Failure
In the past 10 years Rs 60,000 crore has been spent on watershed development
The Kolapuri wier in Antarwali village, Osmanabad district, cannot store water because of
faulty location
Maharashtra is a pioneering state in watershed development. It has conserved, regenerated
and judiciously managed its water resources in 12.6 million hectares (ha) of the state’s 24.1
million ha that have 43,000 micro-watersheds. Development work has been done in 42 per
cent of Marathwada region, the worst affected by drought. Umakant Dangat, state agriculture
commissioner, says Rs 60,000 crore has been spent on watershed development in the past 10
years. But these are all government data. Ground reality is quite different. Water-starved,
poverty-stricken and migration-prone Gourwadi village in Beed district shows how the state
government has failed in watershed development work despite making huge expenditures.
Gourwadi has two
tanks to meet its
water requirements.
The first is a five-
minute walk from
where people live,
and the second is
200 metres down a
steep, dangerous
slope. People take
the difficult 2.5-km
track to fetch
drinking water from
the second tank
because the first one

11. is damaged and has been empty for years. “We have been asking government officials to
repair the damaged tank so that drinking water is closeby, and for a mechanism to irrigate
farms from the second tank,” says former panchayat member Aba Dadarao Gadge.
But in January this year, the agriculture department began work to set up a drinking water
pipeline at the second tank instead of repairing the damaged tank. Longer pipeline also means
more expenditure. “There is enough water in the second tank for two crops, but now we are
not able to get even one decent crop,” he says. The ambitious drinking water pipeline project
has now been abandoned.
Gadge gives another instance of government’s callousness. Some six years ago, the
agriculture department built contour trenches on the hills surrounding Gourwadi. It improved
moisture in the soil, which helped agriculture. It also gave employment to people. However,
the department did not care for its maintenance and now the trenches have silted. “Watershed
development demands an integrated approach based on geo-hydrological characteristic of the
watershed,” says S B Varade, retired director of Water and Land Management Institute,
Aurangabad. “It requires multiple treatments, including contour and compartment bunding,
creation of vegetation to conserve moisture and construction of water-harvesting structures in
the right sequence from ridge to valley in a time-bound manner.”
If watershed development work is properly carried out and groundwater recharge is effective,
water storage for irrigation is the byproduct, says M N Khadse of non-profit Dharamitra,
which has played a key role in implementation of watershed programmes in Vidarbha. But
government’s watershed programmes concentrate mostly on construction of water-harvesting
structures. It is seen as an irrigation tool.
“Government’s faulty approach creates false hopes and destroys people’s faith in the
effectiveness of watershed work,” says Khadse, who is also member of Maharashtra State
Water Conservation Advisory Council and Vidarbha Statutory Development Board.
In absence of work many farmers take up watershed work under Mahatma Gandhi National
Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). But most projects under the scheme do
not get completed, says Vijay Anna Borade, former member of the state Water Conservation
Advisory Council and engineer of the highly successful Kadwanchi watershed in Jalna
district (see ‘What ails rural job scheme’). Instances of Hiware Bazar in Ahmednagar where
people used the employment guarantee programme for water revival are rare (see
http://www.downtoearth.org.in/node/4039 [1]).
What Ails Rural Job Scheme
The Employment Guarantee Scheme has been in effect in Maharashtra since 1978. Work for
water and soil conservation is being undertaken under it ever since. The severe drought this
year has exposed the failure of the scheme in the state.

12. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS),
launched in 2006, has failed because its focus is on providing employment, says Vijay Anna
Borade, former member of state Water Conservation Advisory Council. There is no emphasis
on completion of work. “People look at the scheme as a wage earner. They take up jobs
during lean time, but drop it when better jobs comes their way. There is no compulsion from
either the implementing agency or the people to complete work,” says Borade.
Data states the rate of asset creation has been poor (see table). Nitin Raut, state minister for
employment guarantee scheme, admits that completion rate is poor but says job at the time of
need is itself helpful.
The number of people willing to work under MGNREGS has also dropped. According to
officials of the department of rural development, during the 1972 statewide drought, 1.5
million people had worked under the employment guarantee scheme. In 2012, the number
dropped to 0.25 million. This is because of low wages and delay in payments, says Borade.
The approved wage of Rs 140 is much lower than the Rs 200-250 per day that labourers can
earn elsewhere.
Poor People’s Participation
The first concerted endeavour to involve people in decision-making was in 1989 through the
Indo-German Watershed Development programme (IGWDP). The programme introduced
innovative mechanisms to ensure sustained community participation and transparency. It was
implemented entirely through non-profits in coordination with gram sabhas. A village
watershed committee, selected by the gram sabha, was in-charge of implementation and
control of funds. A fund was created for maintenance of structures.
The programme was a success and in 1995, the government of India introduced guidelines for
watershed development under the Drought Prone Area Programme (DRAP) on similar lines.
Non-profits were roped in as implementing agencies under the supervision of District Rural
Development Agencies (DRDAs). But the programme fizzled out because of DRDAs’ lack of
experience with either watershed work or participatory approach. “Many people’s
representatives, ministers among them, grabbed contracts by floating their own non-profits,”
says Khadse.

13. Gourwadi village
does not have
drinking water, so
the government
started setting up a
pipeline at a tank
2.5 km away instead
of repairing a
damaged tank
closeby
In 2003, the
guidelines for
Hariyali, a
watershed project,
replaced non-profits with panchayat samitis as the implementation agencies and village
watershed committees with gram panchayats. Gram sabhas now had little say in watershed
work. In 2008, the National Rainfed Area Authority again gave gram sabha the power to
constitute village watershed committees and nominate or elect office-bearers. Village
watershed committees got the power to sanction funds. However, the post of the committee’s
secretary was a paid post. In 2009, the department of land resources launched Integrated
Watershed Management Programme. It was welcomed for its integrated and participatory
approach and its renewed emphasis on capacity building. However, an order by the
Maharashtra government in September 2012 brought things to square one. It vested the post
of village watershed committee with the village sarpanch. The order was challenged in the
Nagpur and Aurangabad Benches of Bombay High Court. The Nagpur Bench has dismissed
the petition, while the Aurangabad bench has stayed the decision.
Experts Recommend…
Watershed work traditionally being a civil society domain, key implementation components
like capacity-building of office-brearers, barefoot technologists and community itself should
be carried out through non-profits with proven watershed development expertise and integrity
Power to constitute village water committees should be restored to the gram sabha
Entry point activities, livelihood-related activities and other components of Integrated Water
Management Programme should be focused on watershed work to prevent funds from being
diverted to other sectors
Projects should be completed in a time-bound manner with full community participation
Transparent and comprehensive evaluation of watershed works should be carried out by third
party evaluators in a time-bound manner
Evaluation reports should be displayed in the public domain

14. “Now, contractors are always competing to head village watershed committees and grab
watershed contracts,” says Popatrao Pawar, water expert and sarpanch, Hiware Bazar. Deputy
sarpanch Govardhan Bhosale of Vida village in Beed district says he was nominated as
secretary of village watershed committee in 2012. In the same breath he says that the last
gram sabha meeting was held in 2010.
No Participation, No Result
“We are constantly exhorted to make the watershed programme a success, but we do not
know how to do it,” says Uttam Gaikwad, resident of Vida in Beed district. “Office-bearers
of the village watershed committee ignore our demand for training,” he says.
Because of lack of people’s participation in decision-making, a lot of work is duplicated. In
Hastapokhari village in Jalna bunds constructed between 2004 and 2007 were removed by
farmers due to waterlogging. But fresh bunds are being constructed under MGNREGS.
Five years ago in Ahmednagar’s Chicholi village, two new check dams worth Rs 10 lakh
failed due to poor construction. Now, the government is constructing two check dams, says
deputy sarpanch Rohidas Patil.
“Unless farmers are taken into confidence and their knowledge taken into account, work turns
out faulty and they get rid of it as soon as possible,” says watershed expert Dwarkanath Lohia
of Beed-based non-profit Manavlok.
“This apart, machines have been permitted under the plea that they speed up work. But they
actually remove the community from the work scene and allow contractors and officials a
free hand,” says Khadse.
Without community consultation the bulk of watershed work carried out in the state is
inferior, technically flawed, riddled with corruption and the number of incomplete work is
high. Of the 1,609 projects undertaken since 1999 under Drought Prone Area Programme in
Maharashtra, not one is complete despite 81 per cent of funds being released, data with the
Department of Land Resources reveal. Under Integrated Watershed Management
Programme, only two out of 84 projects have been completed since 1999 after 83 per cent
release of funds. Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh have fared much
better on this front.
Following complaints of shoddy work, in 2011 the divisional commissioner of Amravati set
up a committee to evaluate watershed projects in the region. Fifty projects under various
schemes in five districts were randomly selected. All but four projects were inferior and
technically unsound. Costs were unrealistically escalated in all projects, while most were
incomplete. The committee’s report, which had Khadse as a member, states that 90 per cent
of the check dams and 80 per cent of farm ponds were at incorrect locations. Measurements
of all bunds were faulty and compacting was not done. Drainage channels were not
constructed though contractors were paid for it. Drainage channels ensure that bunds do not
break or cause waterlogging when it rains.

15. Significantly, despite orders from the divisional commissioner, the agriculture department has
not produced any important project-related report, says Khadse. In Osmanabad, 960
Kolhapuri wiers were constructed. None is working. Residents of Antarwali village told
Down To Earth that the wier fails to store water due to faulty location. “Mammoth amounts
are spent on watershed development work, but the quantum of bad work has not been
evaluated properly,” says Varade.
Meagre Funds
“Government policy has never really recognised the importance of watershed work,” says
Vishwambhar Chaudhari, Pune-based water activist. The stress is on surface irrigation from
dams. Merely Rs 12,000 per ha is allocated for watershed development compared to Rs 3.5
lakh per ha for dam irrigation. “Even if water of all the dams in the state was used up, it
would irrigate 27 per cent of the agricultural area,” he says.
The allocation is not enough for proper completion of work, says Varade. This apart, flow of
funds is irregular, which slows down work. Varade is among several watershed experts who
have written to the government to hike fund to Rs 25,000 per ha.
Diversion of the fund to purchase equipment that have nothing to do with watershed
development worsens the situation. Residents of Vida got solar lamps, gym and library
equipment from this fund. “Half of the solar lamps are now out of order. Other equipment are
locked inside the deputy sarpanch’s house,” says Gaikwad. At Ambhi in Osmanabad, 200
cycle-mounted hoes are rusting with the panchayat. “Nobody needs them,” says Padmasinha
Gatkal, head of village watershed committee.
What Lies Ahead
This year’s drought is, no doubt, man-made, caused by deliberate neglect and failure of the
way we manage water and land. Within a few years, the Krishna and Godavari basins will
have substantially less water owing to climate change. Most irrigation projects are
incomplete. With rapid urbanisation, water demand will go up. Groundwater recharge is a
must even as cities and industries need to become water prudent. But we are going all wrong
in our strategies. We have made drought perpetual—rain or no rain, money or no money.
Source URL: http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/drought-equity