Drought in Marathwada:
Review & Analysis
Pradeep Purandare*
ABSTRACT
Drought in Marathwada
has been reviewed & analyzed. Review in Part – I deals with positive as
well as negative aspects that throw light on magnitude & nature of the drought.
Analysis in Part –II concludes that systemic weaknesses were exposed due to
deficit rainfall & absence of water governance converted water scarcity
into drought.
Key words: Drought, water supply schemes,
de-silting, water tankers, bottled water, ground water, NREGS, cattle camps, migration, beer industry,
sugarcane, water conflicts, water availability, watershed development, minor
irrigation (local sector), state sector irrigation projects, rainfall, water
governance.
Introduction: Drought
never comes alone & all of a sudden. It gives sufficient notice. Government
in particular & society in general ignore such early warnings only to learn
late lessons, if ever. Drought brings in lots of miseries, reveals
contradictions & exposes systemic weaknesses. But that’s not all. It also
does something positive. It initiates certain changes, however, small they may
be. In long term, it all counts. Drought in Marathwada is not an exception. Its
review & analysis may speak volumes.
Part-I: Review
In this part of the article an attempt has been made to take
a review of the drought in Marathwada based on various issues as reported in
Aurangabad edition of the state level news papers. News that either refer to
some authentic reports or quote government officers & experts have only
been selected. Since drought is a developing story, latest news helps in
learning about the broader scenario. There are of course limitations for this
approach because it refers to “literature in hurry”. As such, this part is just
a quick review. More in-depth study will be possible in due course of time.
New water supply
schemes: Jalna & Osmanabad cities finally got permanent water supply
schemes; thanks to the severe drought. All these years these cities – district
places – were literally tanker fed. Jalna would now get water directly from
Jaykawadi reservoir & Osmanabad’s water supply would be dependent on
distant Ujjani project. Both Jayakwadi & Ujjani projects are in the
downstream reaches of their respective river basins, namely, Godawari &
Bhima. Both are experiencing severe water crisis this year & the same may
continue in near future too. Though Jalna & Osmananbad have started getting
water, new problems have cropped up. Pipelines for distribution of water within
cities are old & inadequate. Too much of conveyance loss is the inevitable
result. All parts of cities are not getting water in absence of pipelines. Routine
maintenance, electricity bill, availability of funds & staff to run the
scheme are also a part of problem. Whether the water supply schemes would be
sustainable & economically viable? Time will only answer the question. But
it is water that matters & it has reached!
Rehabilitation
of heritage schemes: Nahar – e - Ambari, an example of
sustainable development, constructed by Malik Ambar centuries ago to provide
water to Aurangabad city got due attention; thanks again to severe shortage of
water this year. Efforts are now on to first study & then rehabilitate this
heritage scheme. Rehabilitated Nahar – e - Ambari may partly contribute in solving
Aurangabad’s ever increasing drinking & domestic water problem. More
importantly, Nahar – e- Ambari would be a live model of successful watershed
development work.
De-silting of reservoirs: Dried up
reservoirs of irrigation projects provided an excellent opportunity for removing
silt. De-silting helps not only in restoring the storage capacity of reservoirs
to a certain extent but it may even increase the fertility of agriculture farms.
Table -1 gives the idea of magnitude of work done. As much as 11.6 M Brass (1
Brass = 3 cubic meters) silt has reportedly been removed so far from 633
projects in Marathwada. Beed, Osmanabad & Latur districts have particularly
taken the lead. Government allowed farmers to take the silt free of cost.
Expenditure on excavation & transportation was either done by the farmers
themselves or by NGOs in some cases. People’s participation played an important
role, it is believed. Sunil Kendrekar, Collector of Beed district took
pro-active steps & even tried to arrange loan facility from nationalized
banks for de-silting works. According to some activists, small & marginal
farmers, however, could not take benefit of the program; financial problems
being the main reason. They also point out that magnitude of de-silting work,
in a way, is also a comment in itself on the quality of soil & water
conservation works done in the past.
Water supply by
tankers: The latest statistics of water supply by tankers (Table-2) shows
that 1875 tankers are supplying water to 1515 villages & 746 hamlets. It is
not clear whether this statistics includes private tankers & tankers
provided by NGOs & political parties. Maximum number of tankers has been
reported in Aurangabad district followed by Jalna & Beed. Situation on
water front appears to be good in Parbhani & Hingoli if one goes by the
significantly less number of tankers in those districts.
Bottled water supply:
Bottled water supply appears to have been increased many folds. Middle &
higher middle class people are opting not only for 1liter bottles but even for
20-40 liter capacity jars also. Lower middle class & economically weaker
sections are also increasingly seen to go for water pouches of 200 ml capacity.
However, this author could not get authentic data about phenomenon of bottled
water supply. Issues regarding source & quality of water, investment in
bottled water plants, their ownership & regulation, distribution network,
labor force employed, etc therefore remain unanswered. But the unfortunate message
is loud & clear. Water is increasingly becoming an economic good in actual
practice & people have no option but to accept the same.
Exploitation of
Ground Water: As per the report of Ground Water Survey & Development Agency
(GSDA), the ground water table has declined significantly in the drought hit
areas. The situation at the end of March 2013 in Osmanabad, Aurangabad &
Beed districts (Table -3) is, especially, alarming. The ground water levels in
some of the tahsils in these districts have fallen by more than 3 meters as
compared to the average ground water table. In Osmanabad, the water level is
6.82 to 10.15 meters below that of average water table. Un-checked &
uncontrolled digging of bore wells is taking place on a very large scale. The
existing ground water law is just not sufficient to stop the indiscriminate
exploitation of ground water & the new law enacted by the State has not yet
come in force. Approval to the new law by the President of India is awaited
since last two years!
Horticulture:
Horticulture on as much as 90,000 ha stands adversely affected due to severe
shortage of water. There are reports that some of the farmers have even burnt
their sweet lime (Mosambi) plots in frustration. Politicians, during their
drought-tourism, were prompt in announcing the subsidy. Central government, in
fact, even declared a package of Rs. 60,000 per ha for the drought affected
Mosambi plots. However, it is yet to materialize.
Rural employment
guarantee scheme: National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) has
its origin in 1972-drought in Maharashtra. It is generally expected that EGS
would be in the full swing in the drought period. But the reported statistics (Table
-4) presents a totally different picture of NREGS in Marathwada. Number of “works
on shelf” is said to be 1,17,216 with its labor potential as 3.218 million.
However, only 3098 (2.64 %) works have been actually started with labor
potential as just 0.1 million (3.1 %). And even then, the actual number of
labor on EGS is hardly 60,000. In
absence of official explanation, it is difficult to draw any conclusion. However,
as per some activists, red tapism, corruption, delayed (or even no) payment of
wages are some of the reasons for the performance of NREGS.
Cattle camps:
Like EGS, even the scenario about cattle camps also does not fit in the
generally expected trend. Though the total livestock of Marathwada is around 4
million, there are only 2,12,518 cattle
in 258 camps (Agrowon,18 may 2013). Almost 50% of cattle in camps are in Beed
district alone. Rs 490 million have so far been spent on 71 cattle camps in
Beed.
Migration:
Migration in search of water & employment as a result of drought
exclusively has not been reported in media. However, the seasonal migration of
around 0.5 million sugarcane cutters & transport workers from Marathwada
(especially, from Beed district) to western Maharashtra continues unabated as
usual.
Water supply to beer
industry: Weekly “Aadhunik Kisan”, Aurangabad has reported (14 Feb 2013)
that 27,23,94,871 liters of beer has been produced in Marathwada from April
2012 to Jan 2013 and that 12 liters water is required for preparing just 1
liter of beer. This issue was also raised in legislative council by leader of
opposition on 12 Mar 2013. Farmers have demanded immediate ban on such supply
of water. But water supply to beer industry continues in complete defiance of
State Water Policy according to which irrigation should get priority over
industrial water supply.
Sugar production in
drought year: Total 43 sugar factories in the region having sugarcane
crushing capacity of 13.79 Million Metric Ton have produced 13.47 Million
Quintal sugar in just concluded season this year (Table -5). 1904 liters of water
is required for producing just 1kg of sugar.
The area under sugarcane in Marathwada is reportedly 0.25 M
ha out of which hardly 50000 ha area is under drip irrigation. Average net
irrigation requirement of sugarcane at root zone is 2000 mm
The paradox is evident.
Sugarcane & drought go hand in hand! The climax is government has
sanctioned 20 private sugar factories in drought hit Marathwada in the drought
year itself! It is as good as giving standing invitation to drought on
permanent basis!!
Water conflicts: Water
sector in Maharashtra has been literally flooded with water conflicts of all
types at all levels since long. Drought 2012-13 has only increased the number
& intensity of those already serious conflicts. The conflict associated
with water supply by tankers is the most common water conflict experienced by a
large section of society. It has become so common that people have almost
learned to live it. Conflicts between irrigation & non-irrigation sectors,
upstream & downstream water users, flow & lift irrigation, large &
small irrigation projects, etc have been increasing at an alarming rate. They
may create law & order problems and even threaten unity of state if not
adequately addressed in time. Issue of release of water from upstream
reservoirs for Jayakwadi project has already reached Supreme Court. It has
created misunderstanding & a feeling of distrust between upstream (Nashik
& Nagar) districts and downstream Marathwada region. Farmers from Nandur Madhmeshwar Canal have also moved the
court of law to get water from Nashik Irrigation Division. Legal action is
being taken on farmers lifting water in an unauthorized manner.
From above review of drought in Marathwada, following
conclusions can be drawn
1.
Commissioning of new water supply schemes for
Jalna & Osmanabad cities, rehabilitation of Nahar – e – Ambari &
de-silting of reservoirs are the positive developments happened due to drought.
2.
Unabated
water supply by tankers, ever increasing bottled water supply, indiscriminate
exploitation of ground water, significant area of adversely affected horticulture
are serious negative developments that give idea about the magnitude &
nature of the drought
3.
Facts regarding NREGS works, cattle camps &
migration don’t fit in generally expected trend & need to be further
checked & analyzed.
4.
Water supply for beer production &
especially, for sugarcane cultivation in drought year is a serious matter of
concern. Sanctioning new sugar factories in drought hit region speaks volumes
about government’s priorities.
Part - II: Analysis
In this part of the article an attempt has been made to
analyze the drought considering techno – legal aspects such as geography, water
availability, irrigation potential, rainfall & water governance.
General Information: Marathwada comprises
of 76 tahasils in 8 districts. Its geographical & cultivable areas are
6.481 & 5.930 M ha respectively. Population of the region is 18.7 Million
as per 2011 census. There are 10 main rivers in the region out of which 2
rivers originate outside the region. Most rivers of Marathwada are basically
seasonal in nature. Annual rainfall ranges from 675 to 950 mm.
Availability of
surface water: Though total 309 Thousand Million Cubic Feet (TMC) of
surface water is available, water allowed to use as per interstate water
dispute awards is only 93% i.e. 289 TMC. The storage created, so far, is 265
TMC i.e. 92% of water allowed to use(Jadhav,2012). Prima facie, it appears that an
impressive achievement has been made in developing the water resources in the
region. However, major projects like Jayakwadi, Purna & Upper Penganga now
don’t get sufficient water in actual practice due to excess upstream abstraction
in their catchment areas which fall in different regions of Maharashtra. Water
politics based on regionalism has taken its toll.
Availability of surface water itself is too less in the
region. Marathwada can be described as water deficit region based on per capita
(438 cubic meters as against normal criteria of 1000 cubic meters) & per ha
(1383 cubic meters as against general criteria of 3000 cubic meter)
availability of water. These natural constraints, it appears prima facie, have
been overlooked in the process of so called development & sugarcane- the
water guzzler crop - has been allowed to dominate the cropping pattern.
Availability of
Ground Water: In the year of normal rainfall, the total annual recharge &
annual use of ground water in Marathwada are estimated to be 321 TMC & 164
TMC (51%) respectively. This is an aggregate picture at regional level. Details
however tell different story. In 14 out of 76 tahsils, annual ground water use
is greater than 70% of annual recharge which is considered as a semi-critical
condition. In the drought year, the situation is as already described in
Part-I.
The irrigation potential of ground water is estimated to be
0.89 M ha. In absence of authentic data on actual utilization, it is difficult
to make any definitive statement regarding actual area irrigated by ground
water. However, if one considers the fact that even when the reservoirs of
irrigation projects are dried up, there is 0.25 M ha sugarcane in the region,
one can imagine the magnitude of ground water use. Drastic fall in ground water
table is only to be expected!
Watershed development
works: Total area available for watershed development works (WDW) in
Marathwada is 4.9 M ha. Out of this, WDW have already been carried out on 2.9M ha
(60%) area. The thumb rule is - if WDW are carried out on 4 ha then water
conserved would be sufficient for two seasonal crops (Kharif & Rabi) on one
ha. Using this thumb rule, expected irrigation potential due to WDW works out
to 0.73 M ha. In absence of measurement, actual irrigated area under WDW is not
known. Experts, however, point out that whatever WDW was carried out was
carried out long back based on the then concepts & it is quite likely that
life of WDW must have been over by now. Moreover, virtual absence of
maintenance & repairs also must have reduced the effectiveness of WDW. Very
less number of success stories of WDW perhaps substantiates the argument. Ineffective
WDW can possibly be one of the reasons that reduced the societal capacity to
face the drought.
As an emergency measure, government has allocated Rs.1069 M
for constructing series of check dams in 1043 drought hit villages (Table – 6)
in Marathwada.
Minor Irrigation
(Local sector): Irrigation projects having culturable command area (CCA) up
to 250 ha are termed as Minor Irrigation (Local sector) in Maharashtra. Zillha
Parishad (ZP) looks after projects up to 100 ha CCA . Projects having CCA from 101 to 250 ha come
under the jurisdiction of Water Conservation Department. Irrigation potential
created under Minor Irrigation (Local sector) in Marathwada is reportedly 0.43
M ha. The present status of Minor Irrigation (Local sector) in Maharashtra as a
whole is not up to the mark. Its operation & management stands seriously neglected
since long. Evaporation, leakage, seepage & theft of water are the only things
that happen in these projects. All
government reports only talk about potential created under Minor Irrigation
(Local sector) but maintain silence about potential utilized. These projects
can best be described as “build & forget” projects. These neglected & forgotten assets have contributed
a lot in the development of drought. Present status of Kolhapur Type (K T)
weirs in Marathwada (Table -7) is a classic example. Out of total 2381
K.T.Weirs , structures of almost 31% weirs are reportedly defective. As much as 17114 gates of K.T. weirs are
simply missing(Loksatta,2013). That means water cannot be impounded in the
said weirs. Wherever gates are available, virtually nobody is responsible for
putting the gates in weirs at proper time. Hence, again there is no storage of
water. Small works scattered in villages, absence of people’s participation, negligence
by government machinery, etc have thus converted the assets into liabilities. The
problem of defective structures & missing gates is comparatively more
prominent in Aurangabad, Beed & Osmanabad districts which are also worst
drought hit districts. Can this be described as a mere coincidence?
State Sector
Irrigation Projects: Irrigation projects having CCA from 251 ha onwards are
called as state sector projects & they come under the jurisdiction of Water
Resources Department (WRD). These projects are further categorized as minor
(CCA : 251 to 2000 ha), medium (CCA: 2001 to 10000ha) & major ( CCA greater
than 10001ha) projects. Number & design storage of such projects (including
barrages) in Marathwada are given in Table – 8. As much as 7860 M cubic meter
(277.6 TMC) design storage capacity has reportedly been created by 822
projects.
Bad planning & design, sub standard construction, poor
physical status of canals & distribution net work, bandobast or jugad in
the name of Operation & Management (O &M), criminal negligence in
Maintenance & Repairs (M&R), only lip service to Participatory
Irrigation Management (PIM), poor recovery of water tariff, inequitable
distribution & inefficient use of water & virtual absence of Rule of
Law are some of the well known characteristics of state sector irrigation
projects in Maharashtra(Pradeep,2012). Marathwada is not an exception.
Irrigation potential created by these projects in the region is 1.05 M ha but
average actual irrigated area is hardly 0.201M ha (19%); poor Overall Project
Efficiency (20 to 25%) & dominance of sugarcane in the cropping pattern
being the main reasons. Dismal
performance of state sector irrigation projects did contribute in making the
drought more severe.
Rainfall -2012:
Constraints regarding less availability of surface & ground water and
rather below average performance of watershed development works, minor
irrigation (local sector) & state sector irrigation projects had already
made Marathwada vulnerable. Deficit rainfall (Table -9) made the things worst
& thoroughly exposed the whole water sector. Marathwada & for that
matter even the whole state, was not prepared to face the drought. “Caught
unaware” is the apt description.
Marathwada received significantly less than normal rainfall
in 2012(Parineeta,2013)
. Barring the exception of Latur, Parbhani (Hingoli included) & Nanded
districts, all other districts had very less rainfall (47 to 65% of normal). As
a result, reservoirs did not get normally expected volume of water & even
ground water recharge was a problem. Natural calamity was very much there. No
doubt about it. But this situation of water scarcity was pretty clear in the
month of October 2012 itself. What happened afterwards is the matter of serious
concern. Converting water scarcity into drought was literally “man-made”.
Water Governance: Virtual absence of water governance appears
to be the main culprit. Following measures (just an indicative & not
exhaustive list) could have been taken in the right earnest from October 2012:
1.
Ban on new cultivation of sugarcane. Section 47
& 48 of Maharashtra Irrigation Act,1976 (MIA 76) give such powers to Canal
Officers in the command of irrigation projects
2.
Checking un-authorized use of water from
reservoirs of irrigation projects. There are many provisions to do this again
in MIA76(Pradeep,
2013).
3.
Release of water for Jayakwadi project from
upstream projects. Maharashtra Water
Resources Regulatory Authority (MWRRA) & WRD did not act in time &
decisively. Both failed in their legal duty. They could have released water
from upstream projects in Oct- Nov, 2012 & reduced conveyance losses. Equitable distribution of water was not done
as per MWRRA Act, 2005.
4.
Implementation of new law to check
indiscriminate exploitation of ground water. Government of
Maharashtra(GoM) has enacted a new law
on ground water. But it is not in force. GoM could have taken special efforts
to expedite the legal process considering the drought. It did nothing.
Conclusion: From
above analysis it can be concluded that following factors together are
responsible for drought in Marathwada:
1.
Constraints regarding less availability of
surface & ground water
2.
Below average performance of watershed
development works, minor irrigation (local sector) & state sector
irrigation projects
3.
Deficit rainfall
4.
Absence of water governance
Recommendation: Rehabilitation
& modernization of all types of water resources development works, their
regular M &R, policy of restraint regarding sugarcane cultivation &
emphasis on water governance appear to be the necessary measures for
eradication of drought.
References:
1. Daily “Agrowon” ,
dt. 26,28,30 April 2013; 1,6,13,18 May
2013
2. Weekly “Aadhunik
Kisan”, Aurangabad, 14 Feb 2013
3. Daily “Loksatta”,
13 May 2013
4. Pradeep Purandare,
“Canal Irrigation in Maharashtra: Present Status”, Dams, Rivers & Peoples,
July – August 2012
5. Parineeta Dandekar & Himanshu Thakkar, “How is
2012-13 Drought in Maharashtra worse than the 1972 one?” Dams, Rivers &
Peoples, Feb –March,2013
6. Pradeep Purandare, “Wanted – Rule of Law”, www.downtoearth.org.in
7. Y.R.Jadhav, “Marathwada: Pani, Sinchan aani Vikas”,
Marathwada Janata Vikas Parishad, Dec 2012
Notes:
1.
Specific references are given below each table
2.
Data
& comments in respect of ground water & watershed development work in
Part –II are based on personal discussions with experts who don’t want to be
quoted.
*Retd.
Associate Professor, Water & Land Management Institute (WALMI), Aurangabad,
Maharashtra
[Tables- 1 to 9 attached separately]
