Baramati: In a region where farmers either work in the fields or breed cows, milk production is the indicator for the impact of the drought on the latter section. Many dairy farmers in Baramati’s so-called dry zone have sold their cows in the absence of enough water to feed them but, because of the complexity of the equations involved, supply does not reflect whatever effect that has had on production. Baramati is divided 40:60 between the green zone of agriculture and the dry zone where water is always short and where dairy farming is the primary source of livelihood. Sudakshana Jagtap of Jagtapwadi village has sold two of her seven cows; Ashok Sopanrao Pansare of Pansarewadi has sold four of his 12. “For one lactating cow, I need about 150 to 200 litres of water per day,” says Pansare. “Of the eight I have now, three are lactating. My average daily production has gone down to 35 litres from 100.” Pansarewadi sarpanch Dnyandeo Tambe says the village’s average is down to 3,000 litres from 4,500. Yet supply to the Baramati Taluka Dudh Utpadak Sangh hasn’t dwindled to the extent one might have expected. “We get 1.5 to 2 lakh litres of milk per day. On Friday, we received 1.67 lakh litres,” says its chairman Vitthal Deokate. “There is no major drop in the supply. Had there been no water shortage, it would touched 2 lakh litres.” The association cites two reasons for the consistency of supply. “Farmers have been reducing their household consumption; this is because we pay cash every 15 days,” general manager Sunil Ital says. “Secondly, as the sugarcane rates have gone down, many cane farmers have moved to dairy.” The association supplies part of the milk to dairies and sells the rest under the brand Nandan. It has struggled to supply water for cattle, usually done once every four or five days, but hopes to make up by setting up fodder depots in villages. “We shall procure dry fodder from three sugar factories,” says Deokate. “Farmers will be given 13 kg fodder per adult animal and 6.5 kg per younger animal, at Rs 144 a kg. The farmer need to pay only 25 per cent; the government will bear the rest.” Solapur Villagers mortgage, banks weighed down NISHA NAMBIAR ANDHALGAON: Vasant Lengave, a former sarpanch of Andhalgaon village, has mortgaged 2 acres of his land for Rs 2 lakh, following many others of his extended family over the years. Andhalgaon, a village of 4,000 in Solapur, is traditionally one of the worst affected during the drought season. The mortgage of Rs 2 lakh that Lengave settled for was against an estimated sale price of Rs 5-6 lakh. This is a choice villagers are forced to make; Sahadev Lenghve of the gram panchayat says almost every family has mortgaged some of its land. “Almost 70 per cent of the amount with us is given towards mortgage,” says Bank of India branch manager Abhay Morche. “Almost all branches in the taluka are high on non-performing assets.” Andhalgaon is part of Mangalvedha taluka; villagers in Sangola too have been mortgaging their land. “Banks face a major task retrieving the amount, which is difficult with the drought-like situation,” Morche says. Such is the situation that villagers cannot take water for granted even when tankers arrive. Blue cans in hand, they wait on the road. “Unless we wait, they will move on to the next village,” says Vasant Lengave. They say the tankers arrive about once in 20 days, though district collector Gokul Maware says the administration sends 44 tankers to Mangalvedha and 92 to Sangola everyday. Occasionally, some politicians too send tankers as part of “birthday celebrations”, villagers say. “In my term of four years, I have seen rain just thrice and that too very little,” says the collector. The administration also cites fodder depots set up for cattle, but Andhalgaon villagers say not has reached them. “We have to buy fodder from private dealers,” says Dilip Degamber. The administration has declared 72 of Mangalvedha’s 81 villages and all 103 of Sangola drought-affected. Satara 2 buckets ration on a good day MANOJ MORE SATARA: When Solachana Kale, now 60, and her husband returned to Pangri village in Maan taluka a few years ago after he retired from the police, their children refused to come along. They knew Pangri doesn’t have enough water to feed its 2,700 inhabitants. Every family here makes do with an average two buckets a day. This is their share from the 1,200 tankers supplied daily to 200 villages. “That too is uncertain. At times, we don’t get even one bucket,” says Solachana, echoing a complaint across Satara’s villages. “Two buckets is not enough to even wash our utensils. Sometimes we use paper and leaves.” Either side of the Pune-Satara highway is green up to Koregaon taluka, with the barren fields emerging in the talukas of Maan and Khatav. Pangri villagers have been demanding inclusion in the Jihe-Kolhapur water scheme. “Even villages in the vicinity would benefit,” says sarpanch Ajit Dadas. Over a fortnight ago, Rahul Gandhi visited Pangri. “He kept saying he will ensure funds from Delhi, but left it all to the CM,” says Dadas. Rahul visited Jashi and Bijwadi during his visit that lasted less than an hour. “My government will do whatever is possible,” the CM said. “The drought this time is worse than the one in 1971,” says Sahebrao Gaikwad, 70, adding three generations of his family have suffered since.