Drone camera unravels horrors of severe drought in Marathwada region

Latur: In our continuous coverage, we showed the severity of drought affecting 33 crore people in 10 states. Today, we will show you the horrific condition of land, people and animals due to lack of water through aerial view of a drone camera. The drone camera captured some heart-rending pictures of the pitiable state of flora and fauna in Marathwada area of Maharashtra. 8 out of 12 dams of Maharashtra have dried up completely. If we talk about dams in Marathwada area, there are in total 843 big and small dams. Only 1.5 percent water remains in these dams. This is Latur’s Majra dam. The land of this dam is so parched that it has developed huge cracks. The cracks are so large that our correspondent had a tough time treading the land. The condition is so deplorable that if the monsoon doesn’t arrive in time, it would be a chaotic situation.  The Majra damn is so dry that it is not in a position to provide water to its workers let alone providing water for Latur. Latur’s population is 5 lakh and it requires 6 crore litre of water daily. But the city receives only 50-60 lakh. Now let’s talk about the villages. This is Sonvati village. Women here go inside this well to fetch water.  Every family gets two pitchers full of water per day from the wells. The wells are replenished with water every two days by a water tanker. The state government has taken control of 7500 villages to provide water to people. 5500 tankers are employed to provide water to 10500 villages. Manjra River has completely dried up. People have dug up huge holes. Tankers fill up these water holes and people take water from them daily. In Bhatkeda village near Latur, people who cannot pay for water have to go kilometres outside the village to fetch water. Water is being sold at Rs 15 per litre. The condition of cattle is worse than humans. The little water people get manages their own needs. Nothing is left for the poor domestic animals. Government is trying to combat this problem by opening up 373 cattle camps where 4 lakh cattle live. Owners of these cattle live with them in the camps.