Jalna's 67 small and medium projects hold just 9.69% water; Galhati project in Ambad runs dry

Jalna: The district's 7 medium and 60 small irrigation projects hold only 9.69 per cent of their capacity, and it is only October. Storage did not rise because there was no heavy rain after sowing. Water levels in wells and borewells have also dropped sharply, and many have already run dry.

Jalna recorded 450 mm of rain between June 1 and October 8, compared with 837 mm in the same period last year, or only 65 per cent of the annual average. There are fears that the drinking water crisis will be worse than in the 2012 drought, and that without rain there will be no rabi sowing and a shortage of cattle fodder. The administration is acting against illegal lifting of water from lakes in all eight talukas.

The Galhati medium project at Barsawada, the largest water store in Ambad taluka, has gone completely dry in October. As a result, 10 to 15 villages including Shahapur face a serious shortage of water for farming and for people and cattle to drink. Villagers want water tankers, a survey of available wells and borewells, and separate arrangements for livestock.

Many villages, tandas and hamlets in the command area depend on the project, which dates from 1966. Local farmers have been pressing since 1988 for Godavari water to be brought to the dam through a lift irrigation scheme, and the Galhati Sangharsh Samiti has held protests, road blockades and hunger strikes for it. Villagers complain that the promise to bring water is made only at election time.

Sources: Pudhari; Pudhari