Water crisis grips villages in Maharashtra’s Solapur, residents struggle with limited supply and high costs

Solapur (Maharashtra) [India], May 3 (ANI): Many villages in Western Maharashtra’s Solapur district are grappling with an acute shortage of water.

According to locals, water is being supplied by tankers once every 15 days to around 22 villages in Malshiras taluka of the district.

Due to the water scarcity, farmers in the region have reportedly halted farming activities.

With most of their groundwater resources already depleted, the villagers have no choice but to limit their daily water usage. They are resorting to collecting water in utensils placed under cots for bathing, and then reusing the same water for washing.

Speaking to ANI, Malan Bai, a resident of one of the affected villages, expressed her grievances, stating that they receive water only once every 15 days. “Tankers arrive at a 15-day interval. We bathe by collecting water in utensils placed under the cots, and we wash clothes with the leftover water,” she explained.

She added, “We get drinking water by paying Rs. 20 per day.”

“The situation has remained unchanged since we got married and moved to this village. Leaders visit us during elections, but after the polls, they disappear and don’t address our concerns,” she further lamented.

Earlier, Congress’ Jairam Ramesh ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in Solapur on April 29 asked what the PM has done to address the water shortage in Satara and Solapur.

“The problem of drinking water shortage in Satara, Sangli and Solapur is getting worse with each passing day. Between March and April, the requirement for tankers increased by 13 per cent in Sangli, 31 per cent in Satara and 84 per cent in Solapur. Dams, ponds and lakes in the region are drying up at an alarming rate,” he said in a post on X.

“The situation is the worst in Solapur, which has had two BJP MPs in the last 10 years. The water supply at the city’s main source of water, the Ujani dam, has fallen below zero, and the city is currently dependent on “dead storage” in the dam. The situation has gotten so bad that the Solapur Municipal Corporation now has to supply drinking water on a rotating basis,” he added.

Jairam Ramesh had alleged that the different areas of the city receive water at intervals of five to eight days. “In 2014 and 2019, BJP Lok Sabha candidates from Solapur promised to solve the city’s water problem if elected, but locals say they were rarely seen in Solapur after their victory and never took any steps to tackle the water shortage. Why have PM Modi and the BJP ignored the plight of thousands of people who struggle with water shortages every day? Do they have any concrete plans to improve the situation,” he said.

Notably, the elections in Maharashtra will be held in the state in five phases from April 19 to May 20. Solapur parliamentary constituency will go to polls in the third phase on May 7. The counting of votes will be held on June 4.