Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Oct 27 (PTI) Padlocks hang on the doors of most houses in Devwadi, a tiny tribal hamlet in Maharashtra’s Hingoli district, which stands largely deserted as drought and fodder crisis have forced most families to flee for survival.
Perched on rugged hills, the 70-household settlement under the Pimpaldari Gram Panchayat now only has elderly residents, as able-bodied villagers have scattered across different districts to work as seasonal sugarcane cutters.
Talking to PTI, Bapurao Ghongde, a resident of Pimpaldari village, which comes under the same gram panchayat, said, “Devwadi is in a hilly area, where water is scarce. Farmers typically cultivate soybean, and if rains look promising, they grow cotton in the Rabi season.”
However, the soybean crop failed this year due to poor rainfall, forcing farmers to abandon their homes in search of work, he said.
“The village is now left with the elderly, who can’t engage in physical labour,” he said.
The Maharashtra government has declared drought in 304 out of 358 tehsils and has constituted a state-level task force to coordinate water conservation efforts amid the possibility of El Niño impact.
The drought has also intensified the fodder crisis, forcing farmers to sell their cattle or send them away.
“I had a pair of bullocks, which I sent to my relatives where water is available. A local farmer who bought a pair of bullocks for Rs 1.3 lakh last month was forced to sell them for merely Rs 80,000. Left with no local livelihoods, villagers have migrated to Vasmat, Western Maharashtra, and Telangana’s Nizamabad district,” Ghongde said.
Village development officer Sunil Muley explained that people from Devwadi leave the village in search of employment every year, but the numbers have increased by nearly 20 per cent.
“There is a shortage of potable water in the village. The work under the Jal Jeevan Mission is yet to be completed, but we are making the old system operational so that villagers get some relief. There are 70 houses in the village, 60 to 65 per cent of which now remain locked,” he said.
For residents like Maruti Rithe, who relocated to nearby Vasmat taluka 15 days ago to work as a sugarcane cutter, migration was the only option after his 10-acre soybean field yielded no crop.
“My brothers and I left because there are no jobs left in the village, and we cannot sow without water. One of my brothers went to Satara and another to Pandharpur. My elderly parents stayed back in Devwadi, where my father works as a watchman for a shed. I will consider returning only after Makar Sankranti in January,” Rithe said.
Hingoli District Collector Rahul Gupta could not be contacted despite efforts. PTI AW ARU
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