SUNDAY HI NDUSTAN TI MES, MUMBAI

JUNE 29, 2014 15

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IN RURAL JALNA, RESIDENTS ARE BUYING WATER BY THE LITRE FROM
'WATER TRADERS', AS TAPS STAY DRY FOR UP TO TWO WEEKS AT A TIME
S
P
O
T
L
I
G
H
T
LYING IN WAIT
The rains should be here by now, bringing relief to parched villagers and watering
fields. Instead, the dark clouds are missing and anxiety is turning to desperation. A look at the preparations
and prayers in Jalna, in the states lowest rainfall zone, and Mahabaleshwar, its highest. By Riddhi Doshi
T
he indoor season has begun in
Mahabaleshwar taluka. As the
rains lash this scenic hill sta-
tion in Satara district, residents
will lock themselves inside for
days at a stretch.
But first, usually by mid-
June, the preparations begin.
People paste plastic sheets over
entire windows. Homes, shops,
restaurants and hotels are boarded up
with homemade hay panels.
Mahabaleshwar gets the highest rain-
fall in the state, says KS Hosalikar, head
of the Indian Meteorological Department
in the western region.
Schools take a one-month monsoon
break, from July to August; tourism, the
mainstay of the area, dwindles to just
20%. Local businesses operate only for a
few hours a day. It will be this way until
the heaviest rains begin to retreat, in
mid-August.
Making the most of this forced vacation,
shopkeepers and local businessmen go on
family vacations during this time. We go
anywhere with less rain, says shopkeeper
Umesh Bowlekar, 28, laughing.
With supplies scarce, residents usually
stock up on large amounts of wheat, rice
and foodgrains, and on coal and firewood.
Weve stocked up on 70 kg of coal and an
equal amount of wood, says retired educa-
tion officer Ramchandra Vaikar, 58, who
lives in Kumbharoshi village with his son,
daughter-in-law and two grandchildren.
Firewoodis carefullywrappedinaplastic
andstackedinanextra-drycorner. It will be
essential for cooking its difficult togoout
andbuycoal or get firewoodinthis season
for warming the home incase of power
outages, andevenfor drying clothes.
Warm and dry, with food enough for
the season, the one worry becomes how
to keep the children and grandchildren
occupied on the long monsoon days.
With no electricity for hours at a time
and mundane food, its a task keeping them
from getting cranky, says Vaikar's wife
Babytai, 60, a homemaker.
So granddaughter Priyanka and her
friend Ashwini Sawant, 17, get together
and play carrom and Ludo. We play again
and again and again, says Priyanka. By
the end of monsoon, we could participate
in a world carom championship.
A more serious problem is the money
incurred in treating family members from
the frequent fevers, chills and occasion-
ally malaria. There is also considerable
expense in both preparing for the mon-
soon and repairing the damage it causes.
We end up spending about Rs 25,000,
sometimes even more, to fix up the house
after each rainy season, says Babytai.
This includes fresh plastering and scrub-
bing moss off the roof.
This family is lucky, though. Neither
Ramchandras pension nor his sons sal-
ary as a government teacher are cut dur-
ing these non-working months.
Asif Patel, 35, of Nakinda village is
less fortunate. Come rain or shine, he
and his three brothers must operate their
roasted corn business. We create a roof
of umbrellas and roast our bhutta under-
neath, says Patel. Thankfully, these
days there are at least a few adventurous
youngsters even in the monsoon, to buy
our corn. Those laid off from work at
hotels, restaurants and resorts also go
without pay during this season.
For Sandeep Ranjhan, 37, and
Shatrugan Vaikar, 37, though, monsoon
is peak season. These self-taught handy-
men run an informal business in help-
ing people wrap up their houses, shops
and hotels.
This is the best time of year for us,
says Ranjhan, grinning. Every day, we
get at least eight to ten calls. Often, we
even have to turn down work.
This time, however, the rains are so
late that Mahabaleshwars 58,000 paddy
farmers are beginning to worry. We have
sown our seeds and are now waiting,
says Lakshman Vaikar, 72, of Warad vil-
lage. If it doesnt rain soon, we could be
in serious trouble.
T
he rich and poor alike are
buying water in Jalna district,
paying as much as Rs 7 per litre.
Its June 26 and the monsoon
is nearly three weeks late.
Jalna is part of Marathwada,
that massive area that lies,
parched, in Maharashtras rain-
shadow region. There have been
24 droughts here over the past
113 years thats an incidence of more
than one every four years.
Its the highest incidence of drought
in Maharashtra, says KS Hosalikar, head
of the Indian Meteorological Department
in the western region.
Trading in water had become so lucra-
tive, in fact, that people were giving up
jobs in Jalna city to either dig borewells
of their own or draw on private borewells
for a price and sell the water at a mark-up.
Traders are granted access in exchange
for about half a paise per litre drawn, and
must incur costs of labour and transport.
Every family that can afford it is a
customer, because there is no water at the
public taps for up to two weeks at a time.
As groundwater levels dip, however,
even water traders have taken a hit.
This year, the situation is so grim
that those with stocks in their private
borewells are no longer willing to sell.
Former taxi driver Sanjay Harbak,
35, for instance, sunk his 150-metre-deep
borewell in Badnapur village five years
ago and granted 40 water traders access.
This year, he has slashed that number
to just five traders. Until last year I had
water at 80 metres at all times. This year,
its below the 100-metre mark, he says.
In a district where agriculture is the
mainstay, the missing monsoon spells
doom for the areas 3.71 lakh farmers.
We finished sowing by May 15 because
the rains usually arrive by June 7. Now
those seeds are dead, says Babarao Nagve,
52, of Somdhana village. Yield on Nagves
11-acre farm has dropped by 50% over two
years. This year, I might have to sell part
of my plot to meet expenses, he says.
With no rain and no grass, Nagve's 10
heads of cattle are in jeopardy too.
Inneighbouring Badnapur, livestockown-
er BhimraoShinde, 65, has soldtwoof his
five buffaloes toabutcher. I bought themfor
Rs 40,000 eachfive years ago, andsoldthem
for Rs 7,000 each, he says. Theywere going
tostarve todeath. It was myonlyoption.
The butcher has made a killing. Last
year, I bought ten animals for Rs 15,000
each in this period, says Sheikh Qureshi,
50. This year I have bought 15 animals,
each priced at about Rs 8,500.
PARCHED
For those who cannot afford to buy
water, the day revolves around finding it.
Farmlabourers Sangita, 28, andMohan
Bhidve, 30, live inBadnapur village with
their 12-year-oldsonand10-year-olddaugh-
ter. Theywalk2 kmeverydayandthenwait
about twohours for their turnat the com-
munal well. Eventhis water is filthybecause
levels have dippedsolowandwater is now
onlypumpedout once every10 to15 days.
In Manjhar village, the scarcity was so
acute that the panchayat bought a private
well 10 days ago and began pumping water
into the common well. Levels were so low
that the water was contami-
nated and four families hos-
pitalised with gastroenteritis.
Dr SSBudhane, whoruns a
private hospital, says he treats
at least five cases of water-
borne diseases aday. One
average, at least one of those
dailycases is serious andhas
tobe admitted, he says.
In Jalna city too, the
situation is acute. There
have been cases of physical
assault over water, says a
local policeman.
Water for us is as pre-
cious as gold, adds home-
maker Manjri Ranjnekar, 35.
Homemaker
Manjri Ranjnekar
poses with her
padlocked
storage tank
outside her home
in Jalna city.
Most families
lock their tanks to
prevent theft.
Schoolchildren rush home from school in the
rain. Schools in Mahabaleshwar have a one-
month monsoon vacation, from July to August.
(Left) Babytai Vaikar, 60, a homemaker
from Kumbharoshi village, demonstrates how
a cane basket positioned over a tray of
burning coal acts as a heated clothes rack to
help dry clothes in the monsoon. Her family
of six uses 2 kg of coal, worth Rs 50, every
day during the rains just to dry clothes.
(Above) Umesh Bowlekar, 28, plays a
game of marbles with other shopkeepers
outside his ice-cream and snack store
opposite Mahabaleshwar Lake. The store
front has been draped in plastic to withstand
the lashing rains.
(Top) Workers at a go-karting centre near
Mahabaleshwar Lake hose down the
recreational vehicles after a heavy
downpour. The go-karting centre is shut, as
is the paddleboat centre adjoining the lake,
as tourism plummets to 20% of normal
volumes here during the stormy monsoons.
Waman
Barvadkar, 75, is
in despair over
the state of his
2.5-acre farm in
Manjhar village,
Jalna. With the
monsoon already
three weeks late
here, deep
fissures have
formed in the
packed dry earth.
(Below left)
One of the many
dry wells in
Badnapur village.
HT PHOTOS:
VIJAYANAND GUPTA
MAHABALESHWAR JALNA
A cow licks at a dry water pump in Badnapur. The lack of
water and grass has forced farmers to sell cattle to butchers.
Jalna
Mahabaleshwar
Mumbai
Maharashtra
INDIA
Area
7,612 sq km
52 sq km
Average annual
rainfall
Total population
Number of farmers
FACT FILE
Jalna district
Mahabaleshwar
taluka
728
mm
5,886
mm
13.04 lakh
72,830
43,698
Primary occupation
Agriculture
Tourism
3.71
lakh
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