Heavy rain floods even dry areas in western Maharashtra this year

KOLHAPUR: Three generations of Madhav Sabnis’s family in Chimangaon village, of Koregaon taluka in Satara district, have always prayed for rain. This year, however, they want the heavy showers to stop.
Sabnis said he had taken up ginger cultivation over the past few years, as ginger needs little water. This season, the crop has been completely damaged because of the heavy rainfall.“I have never seen such rain. Neither have I heard of such rainfall from my father and grandfather,” the 60-year-old said.
His sentiments echo through the dry belt of Satara, Sangli and Solapur districts. Even the Marathawada region of central Maharashtra and parts of north Maharashtra that are drought-prone, have received heavy rainfall, indicating a change in the rainfall pattern.
The area towards the east of south Maharashtra struggles for adequate drinking water. Farmers in six talukas in Sangli district, five talukas in Satara and seven talukas in Solapur depend on the withdrawal phase of the monsoon in October for their share of rain. These 18 talukas have already received heavy rain this year.
Nearly 565 villages in Solapur district, of which, 267 are drought-prone, have received very heavy rainfall this week. B N Patil, a retired government officer, who now looks after his ancestral farm in Pandharpur taluka, said that all his life, he had only known about waiting for some rainfall. “This year, I will have to ask for compensation as my crop is completely damaged because of two heavy spells of rain,” he said.
Barshi taluka in Solapur district recorded 140 mm rainfall in 12 hours on Wednesday, leaving the residents shocked.
Randhir Patil, a farmer and poultry owner from Barshi taluka of Solapur district, said they were caught unprepared this year. “It was completely unexpected. I don’t know whether it is good or bad for us,” he said.
Solapur district, situated on the border of Marathwada and south Maharashtra, had exceeded the average rainfall quota last month. Maanganga river, which flows through Satara and Solapur districts, is flooded after the fresh spell of rain.
In Sangli district, 420 villages are affected and majority of them are from the dry talukas of Aatpadi, Jat, Kavthe Mahankal, Tasgaon, Vita and Miraj. Vita taluka has 1,106 mm rainfall in the current season, almost double its annual average.
Tasgaon taluka recorded 85 mm rainfall on Wednesday. Yerala river, that passed through the taluka, crossed the danger mark for the first time in 12 years.
Sharad Thorat, a farmer from Manerajuri village in Tasgaon taluka of Sangli said that the sight of a flooded river has only been an image on TV or movies. “It was unbelievable to see Yerala river flooding. We have never experienced it. We have always been given drought-relief packages. This time, people are demanding a package for wet drought,” he told TOI.
The river also flows through parts of Satara district such as the Khatav taluka. Initial reports coming from Satara suggest heavy damage to the crop in dry talukas such as Phaltan, Maan, Khatav, Koregaon and Khandala.