Talwada (Vaijapur)
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
Guarding water
From: Mohammed Akhef, Villagers here stand guard 24x7... to shield water, November 2, 2018: The Times of India
Residents of Talwada village in Maharashtra’s Vaijapur tehsil, have been guarding a scarce commodity — water.
Every night, men and women stand around an elevated percolation tank, their lone source of water. This they do to ward off attempts by people in their vicinity to steal their water to irrigate farms. Not just farmers, even people like tailors and clerics are doing the night shift around the tank as water theft is common here.
Water levels have fast depleted in the 4,500-strong village on the Aurangabad-Malegaon road. When their complaints about water theft to authorities, including the talathi, tehsildar, sub-divisional magistrate and police, fell on deaf ears, the villagers decided to guard the tank.
The village received less than 50% of its expected rainfall during last monsoon. “If water theft is left unchecked for another 30 days, the entire tank will dry up and neither we nor our cattle will have a drop to drink,” village sarpanch Bhausaheb Magar told TOI.
Villagers said water thefts usually occur at night when power supply is restored. During the day, the village faces hours of load-shedding. At night, people in the vicinity connect pipes to the percolation tank and pump out water for irrigation.
Pointing at the receding water marks in the percolation tank, villagers have expressed fear that the situation may turn violent. Cleric Maulana Imran, who has joined the villagers in guarding the tank, said they have successfully prevented water theft over the past few days. “There were clashes in the village but we intervened. We want police and revenue department to act against those stealing water,” he said.
During the day, when men from the village go for work, women, girls and young boys sit around the tank. Their job is to stop anyone trying to lift water using electric motors. They also alert other villagers, including the sarpanch.
A 70-year-old woman, who on Wednesday walked a kilometre to reach the tank and join the others guarding the water, said the thought of another drought year was causing distress. “Decades back, I have witnessed how drought resulted in serious loss of life and property,” she said.
Dadabhau Magar, a farmer, claimed that he had never seen such a severe droughtlike situation. “We fear, this year’s drought will be one of the worst,” he said.
Despite several attempts, Vaijapur sub-divisional magistrate Sandeepan Sanap could not be reached for comment. Aurangabad rural SP Arti Singh said she would initiate necessary action for restoring normalcy in the village.
