Marathwada's Water Crisis

In the pitch darkness at 3 am, the village of Katchincholi empties out onto the bone-dry river bed of the Godavari. Armed with as many pots as they can carry , the women start digging the gravel with their hands. Once a muddy pool of water appears, they scoop it into their pots. Then they strain the sludge and stones. This is the water the village drinks.
A single pot takes up to two hours to fill. And each home needs at least three pots of water daily. As hundreds queue up at the water-holes, bitter fights break out.
Katchincholi's residents cannot bathe more than once a week.  None of the toilets in the village can be used for lack of water.
The water crisis is building in this village in Beed's Georai taluka. In the arid region of Marathwada, which received just half its regular rainfall, water storage in the dams is down to 15%. Across the region, wells and borewells are drying up.Officials say the drought in Maharashtra--among the most widespread in recent years --has affected crops more than drinking water. Yet Marathwada is already in the grip of a crisis which is set to intensify in the summer months. Last October, the region received water from 22 tankers. Now, that has swelled to 640.  Villagers have begun selling their cattle at half-price in Georai taluka in Beed, because they are running out of water and fodder. In the last month alone, Datta Parhad sold four of his animals. He sold a pair of bullocks for Rs 20,000 even though they are worth twice the sum. And he ended up giving away two cows worth Rs 30,000 free of cost to a relative.
By afternoon in the neighbouring district of Jalna, schoolchildren drop their bags and rush out in their uniforms to scout for water. They carry cans on their bicyles, water-drums on bullock carts and even head out on foot.
All the wells and most of the borewells have dried up in the Ganesh nagar village in Jalna. The bulk of the village depends on a single bore-well. While women spend three hours fetching water in the day, their children manage the evening supply.
The water crisis is set to trigger regional feuds with Marathwada's residents demanding their share of water from the state's rivers.
In February, Marathwada's residents took on Vidarbha over water from the Poorna river. Eleven villages from Mantha taluka in Jalna went on a hunger strike demanding that water from the Khadakpoorna dam which was obstructed at Buldhana in Vidarbha, be released.
Most of Marathwada's dams depend on water from rivers that originate in other regions in the state. But in many cases, the water is obstructed before it reaches Marathwada, allege experts.
Water from the Godavari is obstructed at Nashik, plans to release water from the Krishna river from western Maharashtra were abruptly cancelled and water from Poorna is waylaid in Vidarbha's Buldhana, he says.