A resident of Pune, Maharashtra’s second-most developed city, uses five times as much water as her counterpart in Latur, the district most ravaged by drought in the south-central Marathwada region.
 
That’s the extent of water inequality in Maharashtra, India’s most developed state, according to an IndiaSpend analysis of statewide water use, characterised by disproportionate availability and consumption of water across regions, crops and consumers.
 
The coastal region of Konkan—occupying a tenth of the state’s landmass and home to 14% of its population (except Mumbai)—contains more than half of Maharashtra’s water, according to government data.

 
The populous, dry and rain-shadow regions of western, central Maharashtra, Marathwada and Vidarbha, retain the other half, clashing with each other and neighbouring states for water.
 
But the natural imbalance of water does not make drought inevitable. That happens because water has been deliberately routed to areas where it is already plentiful and to farmers who are politically powerful.
 
Sugarcane—which is grown on 4% of the state’s farms—consumes 70% of water available for irrigation, IndiaSpend reported earlier, although no more than 1.1 million farmers grow the lucrative cash crop. In contrast, about 10 million jowar (sorghum), pulses and oilseeds farmers get no more than 10% of irrigation water.
 
“The earlier Congress–Nationalist Congress Party-led government was entrenched in sugar politics with 13 of the 30 cabinet ministers owning or controlling sugar factories,” Parineeta Dandekar, associate coordinator of South Asian Network for Dams, Rivers and People, wrotein her analysis of the sugarcane situation in Maharashtra.
 
Water inequality is a natural phenomenon
 
There are five river basins in Maharashtra: Krishna, Godavari, Tapi, Narmada and a combined basin of westward flowing rivers in the coastal Konkan region.
 
Of these, three are agriculturally important—Krishna, Godavari and Tapi. They cover 89% of the state’s area; 0.4% of the state falls under the Narmada river basin.
 
The Konkan basin drains 10.9% of the land, while containing 55% of the state’s water.
 
The Krishna basin drains most parts of Western Maharashtra, the prosperous districts of Kolhapur, Pune, Satara, Sangli and Solapur, and some perennially drought-plagued areas, such as eastern swathes of Sangli, Satara and Solapur districts.
 
The Godavari basin covers the drought-hit regions of Marathwada and Vidarbha.
 


Source: White Paper on Irrigation, Government of Maharashtra
MCM: Million Cubic Metres
 

 
Of the 125 billion cubic metres (BCM) surface water available in Maharashtra’s river basins, most of the 69 BCM in the Konkan region goes unutilised, according to this 2012 Maharashtra government White Paper on Irrigation.
 
In contrast, the 17 BCM in the Krishna and 34 BCM in the Godavari basins are insufficient for the regions they water.
 
“In Maharashtra, sugarcane cultivation, which is on (sic) less than 4% of the total cropped area of the state, takes away almost 70% of irrigation water in the state, leading to massive inequity in the use of water within the state,” said the sugarcane price policy report, 2014-15, issued by the Commission on Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).
 
The CACP tabulates the share of irrigation water used by major crops in Maharashtra.
 

Source: Sugarcane Price Policy 2014-15, Commission on Agricultural Costs and Prices
 
How sugarcane corners irrigation water
 
Sugarcane is the only crop in Maharashtra which is wholly irrigated. Irrigation water is available for no more than 9% of pulses and 4% of oilseeds.
 
About 10 million farmers grow jowar, pulses and oilseeds—no more than a tenth of these farms are irrigated, as we said—and these crops use about 2.2 million litres of water per hectare, about 2,000 MCM of water through the year.
 
Sugarcane’s 1.1 million farmers use 18.7 million litres per hectare and consume 18,000 MCM—nine times that of jowar, oilseeds and pulses—annually across the state.
 
More developed the city, more the water used
 
Urban water consumption patterns are heavily tilted towards developed cities.
 
The city of Latur in Marathwada consumes 60 litres per person daily, while an averageMumbaikar uses around 260 litres a day. The average daily use of water per person in Pune is 352 litres, according to IndiaSpend calculations, based on daily water requirements of these cities and the latest available population figures.
 

The–officially set–rural-urban water imbalance
 
A village with less than 20,000 people should get 40 litres of water per person per day, five litres less than the water prescribed to flush a toilet in a city such as Mumbai—these are the standards set in 1993 by the Bureau of Indian Standards in its Code of Basic Requirements.
 
 
The standards also recommend reduced water supply to poorer localities in urban areas.
 

In 2015, the Kelkar Committee on balanced regional development in Maharashtra recommended 140 litres per capita per day across rural and urban Maharashtra.
 
The recommendation has not yet been included in the state’s water policy.
 
(Waghmare is an analyst with IndiaSpend.)

Courtesy: IndiaSpend.com
 

The post How Water Inequality Governs Drought-Hit Maharashtra appeared first on SabrangIndia.

हम सबको बारिश बहुत अच्छी लगती है न! सिनेमा के परदे पर जब नायक बारिश में भीगता हुआ नायिका के सामने प्रेम-प्रस्ताव रखता है, हम उसमें अपने-आप को ढूंढने लगते हैं. अगर आप उत्तर भारतीय हैं तो याद कीजिये कितनी दफ़ा बारिश में नहाये हैं, कितनी दफ़ा बारिश के जमा पानी में कागज़ के नाव बनाकर तैरा चुके हैं. मतलब कि आपने बारिश के बगैर जीवन की कल्पना नहीं की होगी. वहीं देश में ऐसे हिस्से भी हैं जहाँ के लोगों ने सालों से बारिश नहीं देखी. उनकी कल्पनाओं की ज़मीन भी गांवों की ज़मीनों की तरह बंजर हो चुकी है.बीड़ भी ऐसी ही जगहों में से एक है.

लातूर बसस्थानक-2 से रवाना हुआ बीड़ के लिए. हम जैसे हिंदी पट्टी के लोगों के लिए महाराष्ट्र के ठेठ ग्रामीण क्षेत्रों में घुसते ही भाषा रोड़ा बनने लगती है और दुभाषिये की ज़रूरत पड़ने लगती है. जब किसी का दर्द महसूस करने में भाषा रोड़ा बनने लगे तो समझना चाहिए कि समाज के तौर पर हम हार रहे हैं.ऐसा मुझे लगता है, आप न मानने के लिए स्वतंत्र हैं.खैर, बीड़ के अष्टी तालुका(तहसील) में साबलखेड़ नाम का एक गाँव है. यह योगिता का गांव है. योगिता वह बच्ची जिसकी मौत कुछ रोज़ पहले पानी के लिए चक्कर लगाते वक़्त ‘सनस्ट्रोक’ से हो गई. लातूर से बस पकड़ हम पहुंचे मांजरसुंबा. बस बदलकर वहां से अष्टी बसस्थानक और फिर कड़ा. साबलखेड़ से 2.5-3 किमी पहले पड़ने वाले कड़ा बसस्थानक पर साइनाथ पान शॉप चलाने वाले शिवाजी मिले. शिवाजी के पास लगभग 3 एकड़ ज़मीन है. पर 5-6 साल से खेती छोड़ दी, कारण बताया कि कुछ हो ही नहीं रहा था खेत में और क़र्ज़ बढ़ता जा रहा था. अब दुकान डाल ली है और भविष्य में किसानी करने का कोई इरादा नहीं रखते. पानी का पूछने पर बताया कि अब रोज़ नहाना छोड़ दिया है उनके घरवालों ने. क्योंकि पीने के लिए ही बहुत मुश्किल से पानी का जुगाड़ हो पाता है. सप्लाई का पानी आता नहीं, टैंकर का पानी हफ्ते-दस दिन में आता है. कभी 150 लीटर तो कभी 200 लीटर पानी मिलता है. अक्सर खरीदकर पानी लाना पड़ता है. 350-400 रूपये में 1000 लीटर रेट से पानी खरीदना पड़ता है. अगर इस बार भी पानी नहीं बरसा तो क्या करेंगे के सवाल पर शिवाजी कहते हैं कि ‘खेती ख़त्म हो गई कबका, अब पीने का पानी तक नहीं है तो क्या करेंगे इधर रहकर? जान ही नहीं बचेगी तो घर-ज़मीन का क्या करेंगे?’कहाँ जायेंगे के सवाल पर कहते हैं कि ‘जहाँ पानी होगा उधर जायेंगे’.

साबलखेड़ गांव के दुआर पर ही दत्तू माणी मिले. बताया कि 4 साल से बारिश नहीं देखी. दत्तू मछुवारा समुदाय से आते हैं, मजदूरी करते हैं. बताते हैं कि काम नहीं मिलता आजकल. खोजने के लिए 50-60 किमी दूर तक भी जाना होता है. कई बार कोई ठेकेदार आता है और गाड़ी(ट्रैक्टर) बैठा कर ले जाता है. काम नहीं है बोल कर कम पैसे में काम करवाया जा रहा है. औसतन 200 रूपये दिहाड़ी दी जा रही है और काम मिलता है 8-10 दिन में एक बार. दत्तू भाऊ के पास घर के अतिरिक्त कोई ज़मीन नहीं.दत्तू भाऊ से बात करते-करते गांव के ही शेख़नूरुद्दीन रमज़ान मिल गए.शेख़नुरुद्दीन 80 किमी दूर अरंगांव के पास से मजदूरी करके आ रहे थे. शेख़नुरुद्दीन ने बताया कि गांव के लोग घर का सारा सामान मसलन सब्जी, अनाज सबकुछ 40 किमी दूर अहमदनगर से आता है. पूरा गांव मजदूरी पर निर्भर है. जिनके पास खेती हुआ करती थी अब 5 साल से साफ़ हो चुकी है. अब सभी मजदूर हैं. गांव में 2-4 रोज़ पर पानी का टैंकर आता है और गांव के बीचोबीच बनी टंकी (6500 लीटर) में पानी भर के चला जाता है. गांव के वह परिवार जो बाकियों की तुलना में मजबूत हैं उन्होंने मोटर लगवा रखा है; टंकी से पानी जल्दी खींच लेते हैं और बाकी बचे-खुचे पानी से काम चलाते हैं. 100-150 लीटर पानी मिल पाता है, कई बार नहीं भी मिलता. गांव के पास और कोई जलस्रोत नहीं बचा. सब सूख चुका है.

योगिता के घर की एक फोटू

योगिता के घर के दरवाज़े पर ही पिता अशोक मिल गए.द्वार पर ही कई महिलायें बैठी थीं जिनमें योगिता की माँ भी थी.माँ से बात करने की हिम्मत नहीं हुई मेरी.घर के दरवाजे पर ही छप्पर के नीचे एक बकरी बंधी हुई थी.छप्पर की बल्ली से एक प्लास्टिक का डिब्बा लटका हुआ था जो पक्षियों को पानी पिलाने के लिए था.डिब्बे को योगिता ने लटकाया था.पिता अशोक ने बताया कि 5 साल से इनकी खेती नष्ट हो चुकी है और इन्हें भी मजदूरी करनी पड़ती है. योगिता गांव की टपरी से ही घड़े में पानी भरकर ला रही थी और तीसरे चक्कर में गश खाकर गिरी और अस्पताल(धानूरा) में दम तोड़ गई. योगिता की उम्र 11 साल थी, पांचवीं में पढ़ती थी. योगिता का भाई योगेश 15 साल का है और नवीं कक्षा में पढ़ता है. पिता अशोक बता रहे थे कि दस दिनों से काम नहीं मिला है और मैं देख रहा था कि योगेश 15 साल का है और देखने में 8-9 साल का लगता है. पता किया तो बताया कि 11 साल की योगिता 5-6 साल की दिखती थी. दिमाग में तूफ़ान उठा तो नज़र फिराया, आस-पास मौजूद लोगों को ध्यान से देखने लगा. गांव के बारे में बता रहे अल्ताफ़ शेख़ जिन्हें मैं 17-18 साल का लड़का समझ रहा था, वह 28 साल के निकले. अल्ताफ़ की शादी हो चुकी है और एक बच्चा भी है. 12 वीं के बाद पढ़ाई छूटी और मजदूरी करने लगे. अल्ताफ़ ने बताया कि सारे गांव के बच्चे ऐसे ही कमजोर हैं. बच्चे देश का भविष्य होते हैं ये जुमला बहुत पुराना है, आपने भी सुना होगा.

आप विदर्भ की किसान आत्महत्याओं के बारे में जानते होंगे, जानते नहीं होंगे तो सुना तो ज़रूर होगा. बाद में भले ही अनसुना कर दिया हो. पूरे विदर्भ में आपको बच्चे इसी तरह कुपोषण का शिकार मिलेंगे. मैं कालाहांडी की बात नहीं कर रहा. विदर्भ महाराष्ट्र में आता है. हमारा प्रधानमंत्री सोमालिया की बात करता है पर साबलखेड़ जैसे गांव का पता नहीं रखता.हालाँकि मुझे सरकारों से अपेक्षा नहीं रहती पर मैं आपसे जानना चाहता हूँ कि क्या ‘मेक इन इंडिया’ में योगिता-योगेश जैसे बच्चों की जगह है?

हम देश का नाम लेते हैं और हमारी भुजाएँ फड़कती हैं, हमारा सीना गर्व से फूल जाता है.क्या हमारे सीने पर साबलखेड़ का कोई बच्चा सर रख सकता है? अगर नहीं तो देश के मायने क्या होते हैं फिर? मुझे याद आ रहा है जब मैंने फेसबुक पर साबलखेड़ से ही एक पोस्ट लिखा था तो किसी ने कमेंट किया था कि जब खाने को नहीं तो बच्चे क्यों पैदा करते हैं ये. मैंने इसका कोई जवाब नहीं दिया था क्योंकि यह कमेंट अच्छे दिनों का प्रतिनिधि कमेंट है.यह हुंकार है कि ऐसे हैं अच्छे दिन. गांवों में बिजली है, घर के सामने से सड़क गुज़रती है. यही तो है विकास. विकास का काम थोड़ी न है थाली में खाना परोसना, पानी पीने को देना. बच्चों का पोषण भी विकास की ज़िम्मेदारी नहीं है.दत्तू भाऊ के घर चाय पीते वक़्त उनके 5 साल के भतीजे नागेश ने मुझसे पूछ लिया था, बारिश क्या होती है? मैंने कोई जवाब नहीं दिया. यह मानकर चलना चाहता हूँ कि नागेश को हिंदी नहीं आती. इसलिए उसे बारिश का मतलब नहीं पता.

यह सब लिखते-लिखते मैं ख़ाली हो गया हूँ. मुझे नहीं पता मैं क्या लिख रहा हूँ. इतना शर्मिंदा हूँ कि डूब के मर जाना चाहता हूँ, पर यहाँ तो चुल्लू भर पानी भी नहीं मांग सकता किसी से. कड़ा बसस्थानक पर योगिता के चाचा ईश्वर और अल्ताफ़ छोड़ने आये हैं. बस आने में लेट है और मैं नज़र बचाने में व्यस्त हूँ. ईश्वर भाऊ कह रहे हैं चाय पीने को और मैं बीड़ी के धुंए के साथ खर्च हो रहा हूँ. अचानक बस आती दिख रही है और अल्ताफ़ गले लगकर भावुक हो गया है. कह रहा है बात करते रहियेगा फ़ोन पर. मैं सोच रहा हूँ उसने ये क्यों कहा मुझसे….

Images: Devesh Tripathi and Anupam Sinha

जल-संकट (लातूर-शहर) -1 : यह हमारी सभ्यता के अंत की शुरुआत है

The post जल-संकट-2 (साबलखेड़-योगिता के गांव): बारिश किस चिड़िया का नाम? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Image:  Supriya Sharma

In Mastapur village in Tikamgarh, Madhya Pradesh, a group of workers laboured under the hot sun in the last week of April, digging a well under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Guarantee Act.

Using MNREGA funds to dig wells and ponds in drought-hit areas is a good idea. It helps generate income for people at a time when work is hard to find. Last year, for instance, the rainfall in Tikamgarh was so low that the government put a ban on drawing water from public sources for irrigation and most farmers were not able to sow the winter crop. A large number of families migrated to the cities, looking for work. MNREGA can help stop the migration, while also preparing the ground for water conservation in the monsoon.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself said so. On April 21, addressing a gathering of district collectors, he said, "If I know there is a drought situation, water is scarce, but also that the monsoon is expected to be good, then I have April, May, June, can't I use MNREGA funds to run a special campaign for water conservation?"

But the well being dug in Mastapur village showed the gulf between the government's declared intent and actions.

Workers said they had not been paid for six months. Hari Ram Kalar, a frail man in his fifties, said he had worked previously on two wells. This was the third well he was digging under MNREGA. "But I haven't even got a single paisa," he said.

None of the workers had their job cards. "The pradhan keeps them with him," said Kalar. When they asked the pradhan why their wages had not been paid, he said it was yet to come into their accounts.

A district official, who requested anonymity, said the wage payments had been delayed because the funds had not released by the Centre. In April, after the Supreme Court had pulled up the Centre, it had released Rs 12,230 crore. But two weeks after the funds had been released, workers in Tikamgarh were yet to get them. In Lalitpur district, in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, officials said payment for work done by MNREGA workers in January were made in the third week of April.

Nationwide water shortage

More than 300 districts in 13 states across India are facing acute shortages of drinking water. Ram Kripal Yadav, minister of state for drinking water and sanitation, told the Rajya Sabha on Monday that 50 districts in Uttar Pradesh, 46 in Madhya Pradesh, 33 in Maharashtra and 27 in Karnataka have been affected by these shortages. Other badly affected states include Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Haryana, Gujarat and Rajasthan.

The drought this year that has caused enormous hardship to at least 25% of India population has not been caused by just a failure of the rains, experts say, but also by failures of water and crop management and by corruption.

Water and sanitation minister Yadav, in his answers to the Rajya Sabha, listed out a number of projects that state governments had undertaken under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme. In the past year, the minster said, almost 10,000 water sustainability structures like pits, trenches, check dams, percolation tanks and ponds have been built.

Yet, severe water shortages have forced extreme measure like water trains and have left trails of migrants from rural to urban areas. The failure of the government to provide water to rural areas has also driven people to take matters into their own hands. Driven by desperation, many people have dug their own wells, sometimes single handedly and in record time. Here are some of the stories reported by newspapers over the past week.

Dashrath Manhjis of the drought

Bhagwan Singh, a 38-year-old farmer in Nevari village in the Agar district of Madhya Pradesh is being called the Dashrath Manhji of his area. The much-celebrated Manjhi took 22 years to single-handedly chisel a road through a mountain so that his village near Gaya in Bihar had better access to a hospital. Singh dug a 90-foot deep well on his land in just 20 days. The farmer had suffered crop losses for two years because of two consecutive failures of the monsoons.

Nevari village is not supplied by irrigation and has only a couple of handpumps that fell far short of the needs of 650 residents, Singh told the Hindustan Times. Despite scepticism from his neighbours, Singh reached water in at 90 feet in just three weeks. Now others are also digging wells on their farmland. Despite bans on new borewell construction in Indore and other big cities, the Agar district administration has allowed people to dig wells on their farms. Other residents of Nevari are now following Singh’s lead.

In Maharashtra, drought and discrimination forced Bapurao Tajne to dig his own well. Tajne is a Dalit abourer in Kalambeshwar village in Washim district and had never dug a well before. But after his wife was denied access to a well in the village, Tajne spent six hours every day for 40 days till he struck water at 15 feet, according to a Times of India report. Tajne told journalists that after his family was turned away from an upper caste well he resolved to never have to beg for water again and to provide water to all Dalits in his locality. Even though he had no hydrological data and picked a spot for the well by instinct, his bet paid off.

In Karnataka’s Shivamogga district, a 17-year-old boy dug a 55-foot well own his own so that his mother would not have to make repeated trips to the public well to get water. With scarce water supply this summer, Kumar’s mother would have to make multiple trips to the public well each evening after returning from work at a printing. Kumar decided to find a more permanent solution to the family’s water problems by digging a well in his backyard. It took him nearly 45 days to dig thrguh rocky ground, Kumar told The Hindu, but he felt a sense of fulfillment when he found water at 53 feet.Singh, Tajne and Kumar have all been compared to the mountain-man Manhji as people who have accomplished the seemingly impossible to provide for their families. But behind their heroic stories is the fact that they were driven by frustration over systemic failures that led to this drought.

Article first publshed on: Scroll.in

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This is the fourth year of drought in Marathwada in the past five years. Each of its 8,522 villages have been affected for at two consecutive years. As many as 2,745 water tankers are being used in the region compared to 939 this time last year. 

The water crisis is so severe in some parts of the region that water is being delivered through a special “water train” filled at Miraj in western Maharashtra. 

P. Sainath speaks at “National Consultation on Drought" about the crisis the region is gripped with. According to him, the region is not just looking at drought, but a full blown water crisis. This video is the part 1 of the series.

Coutesy: Newsclick

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Latur’s 600-bed Civil Hospital Reels Under Water Cuts due to Drought, Private Clinics also Affected

Acute water cuts due to the crippling drought in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra have put  tremendous burden and pressure on Latur’s 600-bed Civil Hospital that is now catering to a one hundred per cent rise in normal and emergency cases with patients preferring government facilities to the more expensive private ones. With the situation at a crisis level already in April, there is a real worry that in the latter part of May health services may have to be shut down, or curtailed.

“The average normal demand for water in our hospital is 1 to 1.25 lakh litres,” Dr Shailendra Chauhan, resident Medical Officer told Sabrangindia, “ Due to the cuts the Mahanagarpalika can only give us 30-40,000 litres per day. This is when pressure on our facilities is increasing. We normally catered to 30-35 normal deliveries every day; this figure has shot up to 50-60. Caesarian operations that averaged 10 a day are now up to 20.”

This means greater pressure on the 600-bed hospital that remains the main source for the region. The district does not have a hospital leaving this the major hospital for patients to turn to.

“This cut on the normal quota of water supply due to the drought, made more acute by increasing pressure of patients has forced us to cut the water supply by tap. Only limited and control water is supplied in drums, to the patients, “added the doctor.

This inevitably has had an impact on the overall cleanliness and while things are currently in control with private trusts and others chipping in by supplying water from tankers, there is a deep apprehension as to how the month of May will turn out. “Emergency road accidents, regular deliveries these are constants; how we will cope with these towards the latter half of May causes great concern. We just hope that we will not be forced to close down,” he adds on a somber note.

The Latur Civil Hpsital has 600 beds and due to acute water shortage in the Marathwada region is facing pressure of medical cases, normal and emergencies all being diverted to it as patients –faced with a huge economic crunch due to crippling drought—cannot anymore access the fancier and more expensive private medical facilities. There are 12 to 15 such in Latur.

The Latur Civil Hospital has a Staff of 425 Post Graduate Medical Students and 125 full-fledged Lectures/Associate Professors. The Nursing Staff is also vast numbering at 400-450. This entire team is currently under tremendous pressure in regular touch with the government administration and private organizations to alleviate the crisis.

On April 7, the Economic Times had reported that the situation is so grim that private doctors in the region are finding it tough to treat patients and are putting off surgeries. Many of these are being diverted to the government civil hospital that is facing a crush and burden.

There is presently an acute shortage of water as the Manjra dam and Dhanegaon river that used to supply water to the district has gone dry doctors. Bore wells within a 20-30 kilometres radius of Latur have run completely dry.

While basic medical services and access to basic drinking water threatens many ares of the state, including urban centres, Maharashtra will still go ahead and use huge quantities (nearly 60 lakh litres) of water on 20 IPL matches at three venues in the state between April and May 2016.

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Bundelkhand   Image: ndtv.com

Two kilograms of daal per household per month must be provided to every household for the drought-affected period by the Central/State governments as daal is a principle source of high and yet daal consumption has been reducing and is worse in this drought affected year that has severely impacted on hunger. The Tamil Nadu pattern of distributing daal at Rs 30 per kilogram is a feasible one.
 
Besides, eggs (or milk) need to be urgently provided within the Mid-Day Meal Schemes to school going children especially in drought-affected areas. Where milk is in short supply one egg per child is mandatory. These are some among a list of critical suggestions made by the Swaraj Abhiyan in its Written Arguments filed before the Supreme Cort today, January 29. The Abhiyan had filed a detailed petition before the supreme court praying for an enforcement of the National Food security Act, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGA) especially in drought affected areas of the country. The petition and the written arguments can be read here. Senior advocate Prashant Bhushan and academic-activist Yogendra Yadav have formed and led the Swaraj Abhiyan.
 
Twelve states in the country including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Bihar, Haryana, Chhattisgarh and Odisha are drought affected; however while all these declared their states as drought-affected between September and October 2015, the notable exceptions were Gujarat, Bihar and Haryana.
 
The Swaraj Abhiyan conducted an intense survey of Bundelkhand district in October 2015 and thereafter filed a petition asking for judicial directives for government schemes to be implemented forthwith to stem the acute distress prevalent in rural India. The petition was heard on January 4 and 22, 2016. The nest hearing of the petition is on February 1, 2016.
 
The petition and the written notes both make a strong plea for the Manual for Drought Management to be followed by the Government for managing water resources in the drought-affected areas including  policy for use of reservoir storage, repair and augmentation of all existing water supply schemes  and other emergency measures for supply of drinking water
 
In its petition, the Swaraj Abhiyan has relied on data collected by the Samvedana Yatra across nine states between October 2 to 15, 2016 to assess the ground situation resulting from the drought and also conducted an independent survey in 108 representative villages in the severely affected Budelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh which shows alarming figures: 39% families had not consumed dal even once in the last 30 days, 60% had not consumed any milk and 14% admitted going to bed hungry at least once during this period; 40% families had to resort to distress sale of their cattle, 24% had to mortgage or sell their land and 79% had to eat roti or rice with just salt of chutney at some point since the crop failure around Holi this year.
 
The Swaraj Abhiyan, in its petition, claims that this has been confirmed subsequently by various media reports, and that though it had addressed letters to Chief Ministers of various states to request urgent action on drought relief, they have failed to redress the misery of this vast population, they have even failed to properly implement the existing schemes that could have provided support during this period of distress. Swaraj Abhiyan has also stated in its writ petition that except for 2 states no other states have implemented the National Food Security Act, resulting in the failure to provide adequate food grains through the Public Distribution System at this hour of crisis.
 
In its petition, the response of the Centre and states have been described as ineffective and sluggish: “The total number of person days employment generated under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Generation Scheme has actually gone down during this drought period, when it was needed most. States have not followed the relief work required under their own drought manual. Not a single state has as yet paid any relief or compensation for Kharif crop loss; most of the respective governments have failed to fully pay for the crop losses during previous Rabi crops; insurance schemes have benefitted only a tiny fraction. State governments do not have adequate funds to handle this disaster and the Government of India does not follow any transparent method to provide funds for this purpose.”
 
While the fact of drought is admitted by the Union of India and various states and that eight states have already officially declared a state of drought, the states of Bihar, Gujarat and Haryana have not yet declared a drought despite recording rainfall deficit of 28%, 14% and 38% respectively, states the petition. Slamming the states for their weak, ineffective and tardy response towards alleviating the conditions of drought affected citizens, the petitioner has made the startling claim that no government has provided any compensation or relief to the farmers for crop loss during this drought. The Swaraj Abhiyan has charged the states of being highly negligent in performing their obligations and accused them of causing enormous damage to the lives of the people due to their inaction.
 
The petitioner has claimed that though the states are bound to give open handed employment of 150 days at the legal minimum wage for all willing to avail in the drought affected areas in accordance with the standard laid down by the respondents themselves under the MGNREG Act, 2005, they have failed to provide the same. Further, Swaraj Abhiyan, in its PIL has stated that the States have failed to implement the National Food Security Act, 2013 whose very purpose is to provide food security means and make available sufficient food-grains to meet the domestic at affordable prices.
 
The Abhiyan has asserted that the negligence on the part of the Central Government and the State governments amounts to a contravention of the rights of citizens guaranteed under Articles 21 and 14 of the Constitution of India, and it has also charged the states with having abdicated their constitutional obligation under Article 21 of the Constitution of India which makes it mandatory for the Respondents to ensure the right to life of the citizens which includes the right to live with dignity with at least two square meals a day.
 
The petition seeks the intervention of the Supreme Court in such dire circumstances to alleviate the conditions of the drought affected people, the Swaraj Abhiyan has inter alia, sought for directions to the Centre and the 11 states arrayed as the respondents in the writ petition to : (i) declare a drought in their respective states and provide immediate essential relief and compensation to their people to tackle the present natural calamity; (ii) provide adequate and timely compensation for crop loss and input subsidy for the next crop to the farmers affected by drought; (iii) immediately make available and make timely payment for employment of 150 days under the MGNREG Act to the drought affected people, and (iv) immediately make available food-grains as specified under National Food Security Act, 2013 to all the rural people in drought affected areas irrespective of any classification such as APL/BPL; (v) restructure crop loans for damaged crops and other debts of farmers in the drought affected areas; (vi) to formulate uniform standard rules for the purpose of declaration of drought; and (vii) fix fair, objective and transparent package for crop loss compensation.

On the first date of hearing of the matter on January 4, 2016, the Supreme Court asked the Centre to collate data on the various social security schemes being implemented in the 12 drought-affected states. The court asked states to assist the Centre in doing so. The court asked the Centre to collate data on deficit rainfall, implementation of National Food Security Act, midday meal scheme and the Rural Employment Guarantee Act. The petition has sought timely disbursement of crop loans, drought compensation, help in procurement of subsidized cattle fodder and formulating an integrated water policy.

 Meanwhile, the ongoing Right to Food Campaign has collated its findings on the efficacy of the National Food Security Act (NFSA).

Critical data mapping by the Right to Food Campaign (this updated map and this detailed table which depicts the inclusion and exclusion criterion, eligibility lists of beneficiaries and toll free helplines) reflects the rollout of the  National Food Security Act (NFSA)NFSA across India based on statements by the central and state governments. This is a crucial mapping in a year when almost half of the country’s districts reel under severe drought conditions. The situation on the fround however tells a different tale. Especially in states that have only recently enacted and launched the Act, the situation on the ground is far different.
 
Starvation Deaths: There has been a spate of starvation deaths in the news over past months, especially with the 65 deaths in the tea gardens of West Bengal in the last six months of 2015, in the drought-affected districts of Odisha and even Chhattisgarh.  In Uttar Pradesh the drought has been described as a situation of man-made starvation (Hindi). In West Bengal, the Duncan group has agreed to open langars in their gardens but the situation remains grim in other estates.
The findings from the ground on the implementation of the NFSA by the Right to Food Campaign reveal the following:
 
Uttar Pradesh: Uttar Pradesh, where 50 of the 75 districts have been affected by deficit rainfall, was committed to launching the NFSA on December 1, 2015 in three phases till April 2016. But in Bundelkhand the situation is dire. Families are forced to eat rotis made of grass, farmers are mired in debt and out-migration rampant in a situation of official denial of hunger and man-made starvation [Hindi].  A survey conducted by Swaraj Abhiyan in October also found that in 30 days, 39% families had not consumed dal even once, 60% had not consumed any milk and 14% admitted going to bed hungry at least once.
 
Odisha:The NFSA was officially rolled-out on October 2, 2015 and subsidised grain was distributed from early November in 14 districts. But there has been some confusion on the ground at a time when 26 of 30 districts have been affected by drought. The Dongria Kondhs have been denied Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) cards, that they are automatically eligible for as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs). In November=December 2015, the Odisha Khadya Adhikar Abhiyan also organised a Lok Adhikar Yatra which converged in Sambalpur.
 
Jharkhand: The NFSA was formally launched on September 25, 2015, but the distribution of new ration cards has been fraught. The state campaign organised a two-day training program to monitor the implementation of the Act. A one-page survey proforma, guidelines and a software program have also been designed to match the list of eligible beneficiaries from the state government website with the Census 2011 Primary Census Abstract population database, which can be adopted by other state campaigns too.
 
Jammu and Kashmir: There has been sustained opposition to the NFSA by some opposition parties and citizens who have taken to the streets to demand that their original guarantee of 35 kilos per person be retained instead of 5 kilos per person.  
 
But on the positive front, there have been a few important developments:
 
West Bengal: In a welcome development the state government has announced that with an additional expenditure from its own coffers, it will expand the coverage to 80-85% of the population eligible for foodgrains under the Act. This will expand coverage from the current 3.33 crore people in the state to almost 9 crore. In September-October 2015, the state campaign had organised an NFSA awareness campaign with motorbike rallies on 5 routes. 
 
Antyodaya Anna Yojana Restored: Some months ago, the Food Ministry had proposed the winding-up the AAY category to provide 35 kilograms of subsidised foodgrain to ‘poorest of the poor’ families over time. But after much opposition by the campaign, citizens and people’s organisations, that provision has been dropped. The original and modified orders are here.
 
Dal in PDS: With the increase in prices of pulses and uproar in Parliament, the central government has instructed the states to provide pulses through the public distribution system. The Agriculture Ministry has also apparently offered to make pulses available for the PDS.  But only a few states (see table) already provide pulses and oil through ration shops. Many more need to follow suit.
 
ICDS: After substantial across-the-board budget cuts for social sector programs and sustained protests by civil society, allocations for the current year for the ICDS has been marginally increased to Rs.15,485.77 crores. But in the midst of drought, there are reports from Uttar Pradesh that 1.5 lakh children have been denied cooked meals at anganwadis for three months due to delays from the centre.

Roll-out of National Food Security Act, 2013 (Table)
 

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