Untouched by Drought

- Sushmita Sengupta

SOME 30-40 years ago, two villages in drought-prone southern Maharashtra came into the limelight for adopting simple water-harvesting techniques that turned around the fate of their residents. Ralegan Siddhi and Hiware Bazar lie in a rainshadow area in Ahmednagar. They faced severe water shortage in the late 1970s and 1980s and their fight back was even hailed by the government. But last summer, when the region was facing severe drought, Ralegan Siddhi had to again seek government help and ask for a supply of water tankers. Hiware Bazar, on the other hand, did just fine.

How did things fall apart at Ralegan Siddhi and how has Hiware Bazar managed to fulfil its water requirement? The most famous resident of Ralegan Siddhi, social activist Anna Hazare, who played a major role in the revival of the village, has the answer. Once Ralegan became water secure, he says, village residents started growing crops of their choice and extracted water at a breakneck speed to improve productivity. Hiware Bazar, on the other hand, always regulated extraction of water and crops sown, says sarpanch of Hiware Bazar Poppatrao Pawar.

Groundwater recharge is key