he constituencies of Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde in western Maharashtra, which have been affected by severe drought, have witnessed at least 11 farmer suicides between 1 April 2012 and 1 April 2013. Government records, a copy of which is with this newspaper, show that four impoverished farmers committed suicide in Pawar's Madha constituency and seven in Shinde's Solapur constituency as they could not bear the burden of their debts. Anger simmers as villagers say that none of the two ministers ever visited the families where the deaths occurred or offered any condolences or jobs to their kin. Their absence from their constituencies in this time of need is aggravating the situation.

Miles of parched fields, naked river beds, empty dams, dried up wells, dying cattle and ghost villages greet one deep inside Pawar's Madha. Dried banana plantations, desiccated pomegranate and grape fields are a common sight in a region once famous for its wineries. Broken wires dangle from electricity poles along the roads. Electricity is not available in these parts except for an hour in the evening. The situation is similar in Shinde's Solapur. Both constituencies are also devoid of party flags, offices and even banners.

This correspondent comes across a few farmers attempting to dig bore wells under a scorching sun. Farmer Ajit Kavtekar from Barshi village says, "A five feet deep bore well gives enough water but despite drilling nearly 1,000 feet we have not found any water here."

Kavtekar directs this correspondent to Begumpur village where floods immersed the local temple in both 2005 and 2006. "Certain areas got a good rainfall but the politicians did not do any proper planning to preserve the water. The dams and barrages are now empty," he says.

Several such constructions are there in both constituencies. The most impressive is on the Chandrabhaga river near Pandharpur village. The riverbed is now used to dry clothes and serves as a cricket field for local boys.

Although it is Gudi Padwa, the Maharashtrian New Year, there are no signs of celebrations in the villages. Many farmers and their families have migrated to Pune and Mumbai searching for a living. Many have sold their cattle to local abattoirs as they do not have anything to feed them. Others have relocated to government run cattle camps along with their animals, in the hope that there will be water for them as well.

Last month, the Centre approved Rs 1,207 cr for the entire state as drought relief. Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, who believes the amount is not enough, has started his own drought fund, which has collected Rs 77 cr 55 lakh till date. According to the Chief Minister's Officer, until 8 April 2013, 2,977 villages are being supplied with water from 3,562 tankers. Out of which 260 tankers are government-run, while 3,302 are private run. But the need is humongous. Madha alone has nearly 1,300 cattle camps, now housing both animals and men. The government has sanctioned Rs 60 for feeding one cow or a bullock every day. Locals allege that the contracts for the cattle camps are generally given to workers belonging to Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party and are a hub of corruption. "They do not disclose the actual number of animals present in the camp and give distorted figures," alleges Shashikant Jadhav of Mohal village. The owners of the camps say that often the relief money is delayed by four months which is why they have to increase the actual number of cattle present in their camps to make ends meet.

Pandurang Khopkar, who runs a cattle camp in Wadal village near Sangola, says, "It takes at least Rs 1.5 lakh a day to run a single cattle camp, but the money sanctioned by the government doesn't come to us on time. We have to spend on water tankers as well. At least 40,000 litres of water are needed for the cattle. The objective of the cattle camp is to keep the cattle alive but the entire family takes up residence here."Image 2nd

Farmers sell their cattle to abattoirs when they fail to find a place to stay in the camps. "One milk yielding cow, which was bought for Rs 50,000, does not fetch even Rs 10,000," says Shivajirao Gaikwad of Kadnas village.

Where is Pawar amid all this? "The last time Pawar Saheb came to the area was a year ago. He addressed a college crowd and was felicitated. The police stopped me from meeting him. So I gathered a crowd and blocked his path when he was on his way back. He got down from his vehicle and assured me that he would provide water and electricity to my village, but he has not," says Gaikwad.

"75% of Western Maharashtra has been affected by drought. The situation is as bad as in Vidarbha and Marathwada. The media regularly reports of droughts and suicides in those two areas but not in Western Maharashtra. Most NCP and Congress ministers are from these drought affected areas. They have cleverly avoided the media glare in these areas due to their clout and influence," complains Avinash Koli, BJP's district president for Osmanabad and Solapur.

FARMERS' SUICIDE

38-year-old Surekha Khedkar reluctantly brings out the photograph of her late husband Ashok from the bottom of her tin trunk. Ashok, a debt ridden farmer from Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar's constituency Madha, committed suicide on 10 June 2012. This is Surekha's first New Year without him after she got married. Surekha says her husband killed himself because he could not pay his debt of Rs 40,000. He had taken Rs 20,000 in 2001 for financing his jeera plantation from Sawabhimaan Path Sanstha, a local bank which eventually shut down. In the last two years, the drought has been so severe that her 42-year-old husband hung himself in their home one late afternoon when she was away at a neighbours' home and their two sons were at school.Image 3rd

Surekha says she has not received any compensation despite repeated requests because the Sanstha that loaned the amount to Ashok wrote to the district collector's office that they "did not harass him nor sent him any notice for the loan amount". "I was told by the collector's office that only farmers who have been announced as defaulters and received bank notices are eligible to get compensation."

Surekha says that she went to meet Sharad Pawar. "But I was told by his associates that he meets only sugarcane farmers and that he does not meet widows at all," she adds.

The home of Waman Narhari Kulkarni, once a well-off grape farmer in Chincholi village in Madha is empty. Kulkarni committed suicide on 6 December 2012. Official records mention the reason of suicide as failed crop. "Kulkarni left two suicide notes, one for his family and another for the police. In both he mentioned that he was committing suicide as he did not have any options left to revive his dying fields," says Pramod Gosavi a reporter and resident of Chincholi. Kulkarni's family has migrated to Pune.

In Kusur village in Shinde's Solapur, the family of the late Raosaheb Shankar Waghmare says that they have not received any compensation after Waghmare's suicide. Anil Nagrane, a relative of the family says that the 42-year-old Waghmare had gone into a depression after the bank authorities towed away his tractor 15 days prior to his death.

"He had taken a loan of Rs 5.5 lakh from the district credit cooperative bank and another Rs 2.5 lakh from the village moneylender. His six-acre grape and sugarcane farm did not get any water even though it is located right next to the Bhima river. There was no electricity so he could not draw water from the river for irrigation. He saw his entire farm dry up in front of his eyes," says Nagrane. Waghmare finally consumed pesticide meant for his grapes.

THE SOURCE

The main source of water in the areas is the Bhima river basin which originates from Karjat in Western Maharashtra and enters Solapur by forming tributaries like Chandani, Kamini, Moshi, Bori, Sina, Man and Bhogati. Bhima then merges with Nira in Malshiras in Solapur district.Image 4th

The Ujani reservoir-dam constructed on Bhima was part of the Bhima irrigation project catering to 22 other dams. Bhima's water used to get exhausted by the time it reached low-lying areas. Poor rainfall in the last two years made water levels at the lower Ujani dam, where most of these villages are located, to go down considerably. Acting on a petition, the High Court asked the state government to release water from upstream reservoirs to Ujani dam, which was bone dry. This gave some temporary relief to farmers.

Ex-MP Subhash Deshmukh from Solapur describes the drought as man-made and alleges that the situation has deteriorated ever since the NCP has taken over the irrigation portfolio in 1999. "No proper measures have been taken over the years to collect water despite the region having many huge barrages on the rivers. Many of the dams do not have any canals to divert the water to the fields," he says. He says that he is constructing a 15 kilometre long canal to store rainwater at the cost of Rs 10 cr in Solapur district.