MUMBAI: After announcing the ₹31,628 crore aid for flood affected villagers in Marathwada recently, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis expressed the need to “take steps with a long term perspective bearing climate change in mind”. “Though it has flooded this time, Marathwada has been synonymous with drought for decades, and that fear of the risk will continue even in the future,” Fadnavis told HT, after the announcement.
The risk of climate change is the second crucial challenge that has surfaced in the region, since Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil led a protest for reservation for community members in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category, which also stemmed from deprivation.
Water management
In view of the massive losses suffered by villagers of four of the eight districts of Marathwada – Dharashiv, Beed, Latur and Nanded — and Solapur, in western Maharashtra, following the three-week deluge in September and October, the state’s planning authorities are staring at fresh challenges. While all this while their focus has been to fight water scarcity in the backdrop of four droughts in the last 10 years, the present devastation caused by excessive rainfall has compelled them to revisit policies and long-term planning.
The region faced droughts between 2012-13 and 2019, with an average of 50% to 70% rainfall in these spans, which resulted in long-term socio-economic strain. It had compelled the Devendra Fadnavis government that came to power in 2014 to float two major projects – Jalyukt Shivar, for water conservation; and Marathwada Watergrid Project, which would link multiple dams to ensure uniform water supply to the entire area.
Unlike the prosperous western Maharashtra whose per capita income is bolstered by industrial growth and irrigation of cash crops such as sugarcane, Marathwada has remained underdeveloped, with 74% of its population dependent on agriculture and allied activities, which is way over the average dependency of 53% in the state. 29% of the state’s kharif crops are cultivated on 48.31 lakh hectares in Marathwada, but the produce has been affected due to the frequent droughts since 2012 leading to farmers getting poor returns for their crops. This has led to a high rate of farmer suicides in the region — 948 of 2672 in the state in 2024, second after Vidarbha.
Key crops grown in the region are cotton, soyabean, pulses, jowar, bajra and partially sugarcane.
The 16th Finance Commission report, submitted to the government in May, showed the district’s high dependency on agriculture, in the backdrop of poor industrialisation, leading to low per capita income and the district’s gross domestic product (GDP). Seven districts of the state contribute 54% of the state GDP ($500 billion), while 11 contribute 26% and the remaining 18 contribute 20%. Five districts in Marathwada are in the third category and three in the second category.
The per capita income of the eight districts is 0.85% of the state average of ₹2.79 lakh.
Maharashtra’s economic survey of ’24-25, tabled in February, stated eight districts of Marathwada continue to face low rainfall, frequent drought and agricultural distress. The economy remains agrarian, dependent on monsoon and sugarcane-based industries. The growth in agriculture and industry is below the state average. The gross district domestic product of the region remains lower than western and northern Maharashtra.
The state government has been beating its own trumpet over the allocation of ₹46,000 crore for the Marathwada water grid project for drought mitigation and uniform water distribution in 2017; but the project failed to take off even eight years after it was envisaged.
Water shortage results in only 15%-20% of the agricultural area that can be used.
Revisiting policies
And now, the recent floods have multiplied farmers’ woes, and many feel that it may take them at least three years to regain the losses. The government now feels the need to relook at its own policies.
Fadnavis’s remarks Mantralaya brings to mind a report by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in 2013, which had stated that despite its drought-prone character, Maharathwada is projected to experience an increase in the mean monsoon rainfall by 2030. “It will continue moderately through the 2050s and 2070s, though the rise will come with high variability – heavy rainfall interspersed with long dry spells, increasing flood and drought cycles,” it stated. It also underscored that the rise in rainfall will not improve the availability of the water due to a lack of opportunity for groundwater recharge. “There will be more dry days between spells in Solapur, Beed, Osmanabad and Latur belt and flood risks in Jalna, Parbhani and Hingoli,” said the report.
The report recommended measures to combat water scarcity, ways to enhance storage capacity by utilising the benefits of good rainfall, recharging groundwater, re-naturalising rivers and wetlands, conserving riparian buffers and pushing efficient farming systems such as drip and sprinkler irrigation.
The idea has been vocalised by politicians in the region since the deluge in September, with many insisting that the approach towards irrigation in the region needs to be revisited.
Ambadas Danve, former leader of opposition in the legislative council, recently called attention to the failure of the government’s past policies and called attention to “the corruption in the administration that has further crippled the region’s growth”.
“While the government planned the Marathwada water grid in 2017-18, there was no financial push for its implementation. The AURIC City (developed as part of the Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor), planned around 20 years ago, attracted only big multinational companies with limited employment. Jalyukt Shivar was crippled by corruption as it was launched to benefit contractors close to the ruling parties. The farmers are not getting assured returns of their produce, as the input cost has increased manifold. This has led to much distress,” he said.
Danve added, “Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation’s plans of industrialisation have helped only Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, while units in districts such as Latur and Nanded have failed miserably.”
Fadnavis, however, told HT, “The next census will throw up surprising figures. The industrialisation has improved and the dependency on agriculture in Marathwada has declined.”
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP and former chief minister Ashok Chavan, called for implementing preventive measures in a region which has historically “been known to be drought prone but witnessed extreme events in the recent monsoon season”. Chavan called for desilting riverbeds and tributaries to “enhance the carrying capacity and storage which will help minimise future hardship in case of both heavy downpour as well as drought”.
“The benchmark for releasing water from the dams needs to be changed. The discharge of the water from the dams during monsoon leads to flooding; on the other hand, adequate water is not released when there is need in summer,” said Chavan, adding cropping patterns also need to be tweaked.
Irrigation expert, from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Pradeep Purandare, called the Jalyukt Shivar “haphazardly planned, which exacerbated the after-effects of recent flooding”.
“The planning for the drainage system of the water conserved under Jalyukt Shivar was done way after the scheme’s launch in 2015. The project was akin to privatisation of the irrigation sector. There are many reports on climate change related to Marathwada, including one by TERI, which warned of floods in the region in the 2030s, and the preventive measures that need to be taken. Unfortunately, the state government has not worked on any mitigation plan to combat these events,” said Purandare.
Marathwada-based environmentalist Atul Deulgaonkar, noted, “Percolation tanks introduced in 1980 have become evaporation tanks because of the silts deposited in them. Similarly, flood plains, which should be sacrosanct, are full of obstructions and encroachments. The government should press upon better water and soil management to avoid these extreme events witnessed in Marathwada.”
Pankaja Munde, environment minister and one of the most influential leaders from the region, said, “While the road ahead is tough, ambitious planning will help us get through. I have spoken to authorities to prioritise long-term planning and funds needed. We will mobilise funds from various departments to implement mitigation plans.”