Technoglitch
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The whole family sweated it out. Women and children joined in when the men grew tired of pushing the handle that was churning the wheel and pulling up rocks from the bottom of the well.
The patriarch of the family, Sajan Rai, was down at the bottom of the well, about 40 feet deep.
With two others, he was tugging at the rocks that had come unstuck after two rounds of explosions had blasted through them.
Deepening a well is not an easy task, but the family was determined to bore through 10 feet of earth – it was their only hope of finding water to irrigate their fields.
In the absence of a major river or dam, Tikamgarh depends on reservoirs and ground water for irrigation. Some of the reservoirs and tanks, built by the Chandela kings who ruled the region between the 9th and 12th century, sprawl over 40 hectares – about the size of a hundred football fields.
But this year, the reservoirs have visibly shrunk and ground water levels have fallen. Last year, according to the irrigation department, the district had enough water to irrigate 35,000 hectares of crops. This year, the water can irrigate 6,000 hectares at best.
Anticipating a drinking water crisis next summer, however, the district administration has decided to not even use that. It has placed a ban on farmers drawing water from the reservoirs for irrigation, or sinking new tubewells – in effect, ensuring farmers cannot plant the winter crop of wheat. “The rabi [winter crop] sowing has happened in less than 10% area,” said Sharma.
No ordinary drought: Water levels are so low, this Madhya Pradesh district has banned irrigation
The patriarch of the family, Sajan Rai, was down at the bottom of the well, about 40 feet deep.
With two others, he was tugging at the rocks that had come unstuck after two rounds of explosions had blasted through them.
Deepening a well is not an easy task, but the family was determined to bore through 10 feet of earth – it was their only hope of finding water to irrigate their fields.
In the absence of a major river or dam, Tikamgarh depends on reservoirs and ground water for irrigation. Some of the reservoirs and tanks, built by the Chandela kings who ruled the region between the 9th and 12th century, sprawl over 40 hectares – about the size of a hundred football fields.
But this year, the reservoirs have visibly shrunk and ground water levels have fallen. Last year, according to the irrigation department, the district had enough water to irrigate 35,000 hectares of crops. This year, the water can irrigate 6,000 hectares at best.
Anticipating a drinking water crisis next summer, however, the district administration has decided to not even use that. It has placed a ban on farmers drawing water from the reservoirs for irrigation, or sinking new tubewells – in effect, ensuring farmers cannot plant the winter crop of wheat. “The rabi [winter crop] sowing has happened in less than 10% area,” said Sharma.
No ordinary drought: Water levels are so low, this Madhya Pradesh district has banned irrigation
