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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Water experts warn of 'desertification' of Marathwada -Shoumojit Banerjee

Water experts warn of 'desertification' of Marathwada -Shoumojit Banerjee

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published Published on May 23, 2019   modified Modified on May 23, 2019
-The Hindu

Say policymakers induce farmers to adopt incongruent crop pattern, causing water crisis

Pune:
The water crisis in Maharashtra is a “policy-induced failure”, according to economists and water academics who have specifically warned of the ‘desertification’ of the parched Marathwada region in the near future.

“It is the ecological illiteracy of policy-makers and the selfishness of the power elite in inducing farmers across Marathwada to adopt a crop pattern that is not congruent with the agro-climatic characteristics of this region,” said Prof. H.M. Desarda, economist and former member of the Maharashtra State Planning Board. Mismanagement of water resources by successive governments, coupled with four decades of incessant ‘water mining’, had led the groundwater table across the Marathwada region to decline precipitously to the point where rejuvenating it had become impossible, he said.

“Of the 76 talukas in eight districts that comprise Marathwada, 50 received around 300 mm rainfall last year. This translates to three million litres of water per hectare. Given that the average population density in Marathwada is 300 per sq. km., this is more than enough to meet the basic drinking water and household needs of the populace besides leaving enough water for one crop. So, while there is a rainfall deficit in this region, it certainly does not warrant a grave water scarcity situation currently prevalent,” he said.

According to data by the Groundwater Surveys and Development Agency, the water table had dropped alarmingly in 70 of the 76 talukas, with more than 25 reporting a drop of more than two metres.

Arid climate

Prof. Desarda said the crop pattern in the region had drastically changed over the past decades. “Earlier, the main crops cultivated here used to be cereal and oilseeds. These crops were not only conducive to Marathwada’s arid climate, but were drought-resistant and led to moisture harvesting,” he said. But now, the predominant crops here are soybean and Bt Cotton, which dominate more than 80% of Marathwada’s 50 lakh hectares of cultivable land.

“These crops, coupled with the lure of easy profits from sugarcane, have led the farmers and the citizens to the edge of the current hydrological disaster. Sugarcane, which is only grown in 4% of the total cultivable land, guzzles 80% of the water resources. As a result, today, a slight change in the meteorological cycle is enough to cause a full-blown water crisis here,” he said.

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The Hindu, 23 May, 2019, https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/water-experts-warn-of-desertification-of-marathwada/article27212356.ece?fbclid=IwAR0xrbr6ACtHrF_FTA65p-QxeXVY-7DB7bz1nSUK-f


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