Pankuja's 'selfie with oasis' shows Latur residents' own drought-relief work

The body of water that got Maharashtra rural development minister Pankaja Munde into trouble on Monday when she took a 'selfie in drought', is actually the creation of residents of Latur who decided  to stop waiting for government help and work on drought-relief measures themselves.

What Munde said was "like an oasis in desert" in Sai village, is a tiny stretch of the Manjara river, the lifeline of Latur, which residents have been desilting since 12 April when they launched a citizens' initiative in association with the Art of Living Foundation called Jalyukt Abhiyan.

The idea is to increase the storage capacity of the river, which is now completely dry, by desilting an 18 km stretch from Sai village barrage to Nagzari village to Karsapohre village, according to The Indian Express.

Once the silt is removed, the river, at present a choked 30 metres wide, will return to its original 80 metres. So far, 3 km of it has been desilted, and the Latur residents have given themselves a 31 May deadline so that once the monsoon starts, the river will fill and provide the area with drinking water throughout the year.

"We expect 18,500 MLD (million litres per day) water to be stored in the two barrages during the monsoon," said Mahadev Gomare of the Art of Living Foundation. "Latur has a population of 5 lakh-plus, and needs 50 million litres every day, or 18,250 MLD annually. It means we might even have more water than required."

The work is entirely voluntary, from the engineer overseeing the project, to the people physically removing the silt from the river.

"Before the Manjara dam went dry, Latur city used to get water every eight or 10 days. Once the two barrages are filled this monsoon with 18,500 MLD water, we expect supply every other day at the least, keeping in mind distribution and other losses," said PN Todkar, a retired state irrigation department official who is supervising the work.

Several private and government engineers are providing their expertise on a voluntary basis. Latur residents are also providing money for equipment. The cost of the project is estimated at Rs 7 crore.

According to Gomare, 30 excavating machines are being used on the river bed, 29 from private parties, and one from the Latur district collectorate. "We are paying approximately Rs 1,400 per hour for each machine and have so far paid Rs 32 lakh to private contractors," he said. The government is not charging for the machine it provided.

"We have no option. We can't leave it to the government any longer," said Dr Kalyan Barmade, secretary of the Indian Medical Association's Latur chapter. "This 'Latur pattern' should be replicated in other drought areas too."

Municipal Commissioner Sudhakar Telang said that the Latur Municipal Corporation has no role in this initiative. "But, yes, the project will help augment our water supply. I can't say how much, but it will certainly help..." he said.