Mass migration of farmers due to drought in Yavatmal, villages turned desolate

A severe impact of drought is being observed in Maharashtra's Yavatmal district, due to which many villages have become deserted even during the Diwali festival. People have locked their houses and migrated to other cities in search of work. According to a ground report by BBC Gujarati, similar scenes were seen in many villages of Pusad and Mahagaon talukas of the district.

The situation in Vakad Ijara village of Mahagaon taluka is extremely worrying. Many streets here are completely silent and almost 60 per cent of the houses in the village were found closed. Only elderly people were sitting outside some houses, waiting for their children and grandchildren to return. Due to the lack of work opportunities in the village because of the drought, people have headed towards states like Pune, Mumbai and Gujarat, while some have gone to Telangana to pick cotton.

The biggest impact of this drought has fallen on farmers, who have been forced to leave their villages despite owning land. A farmer named Prahlad Rathod has सवाचार (saadachaar) acre land, but nothing has grown in the field this year. The soybean crop has been completely burnt and the cotton crops have also started drying up. As soon as the estimate arrived that there would be no production in the field, his son Vame started working as a labourer in Pune with the family in the month of August itself. According to Prahlad Rathod, since the condition of all farmers in the village is the same, labour work is not available at the local level either, due to which there is no sustenance for food and drink in the village. Both of Prahlad's sons are to go to other villages again after Diwali in search of employment.

The same tragic situation exists in other areas of the village. The husband and son of 50-year-old Lalita Rathod had gone to Pune a month ago. Lalita stated that the drought is so terrible that no person here is ready to give even 200 rupees for labour. She added that to fill their stomachs, they too will have to go to Pune after Diwali, where they will look for work washing utensils or cooking, because it is not possible to die of hunger by staying here.

The structure of the villages in Yavatmal district is divided into two parts: Vasti and Tanda. Various castes, communities and tribal people live in the Vasti, while only people of the Banjara community reside in the Tanda. In Vakad Ijara village, people of tribal and Dalit communities live in the Vasti. According to the report, while the houses in the Tanda were closed, the situation was similar in the Vasti area as well.

Some people who had migrated have returned temporarily due to reasons such as the death of family members. Gokarna Kambale had gone to work in Narayan Gaon, Pune, 15 days ago, but he returned to the village after his one daughter died in an accident. He stated that the labour rate in Pune is 200 to 300 rupees, but there is no certainty of work. Sometimes work is available for four days, and sometimes one has to sit at home for eight days. Despite having agricultural land, they had to migrate due to the lack of crops, and they are to go to Pune again after Diwali.

Natural resources in this area have also dried up. There is a lack of water in rivers and streams. The stream flowing from Bori village usually had water until the month of February, but now that stream and surrounding ponds have completely dried up. Large cracks have appeared in the soil. In rain-dependent fields, the height of cotton plants has not increased and the bolls have not burst, due to which both farm labourers and farmers have been forced to migrate.

Questioning the government's functioning, farmer Manish Jadhav stated that if the government had done micro-planning in advance and made labour work available in the village, the village would not have become desolate like this. He questioned the government why proper planning was not done instead of merely carrying out actions on paper when there was information about the possibility of the impact of El Nino.