![\"Water-starved](\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-134539073,imgsize-157738,width-400,height-225,resizemode-75\/pomegranate-farmer-pandurang-mali-shows-his-drying-plantation-in-tulshi-village.jpg\" "\\"Pomegranate")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nTULSHI\/SOLAPUR: \u2018Village for sale\u2019, says the poster in Tulshi village in Solapur district. The startling, bold words express anger, sarcasm and a deep disquiet among residents waiting for decades for irrigated water.Sarpanch Sharad More said, \u201cAnyone wanting to buy our village can step forward. For outsiders, the poster is funny, but it reflects how govt has been fooling us for 25 years.\u201dTulshi is a mere nine km from Sina-Madha lift irrigation scheme, but gets none of its benefits. Residents said they have been left out of the canal network that draws water from Ujani dam and supplies it to several neighbouring villages.The scheme became operational in 2000. Other villages cultivate water-intensive cash crops like sugar cane, vegetables and fruit plantations, including grapes and pomegranates, but Tulshi waits for uncertain rainfall.The village is the last settlement in Madha tehsil. Residents said its saucer-like terrain, surrounded by higher ground, makes it particularly difficult to hold water without a dedicated canal or a pipeline network.The crisis is acute this year. According to the district record, several villages in Madha, including Tulshi, have received no rainfall in the last 45 days. Tulshi\u2019s water bodies have little or no water, while wells and percolation lakes have dried up.\u201cWe have been getting tankers since July. That is a reflection of our situation here,\u201d More said.For generations of farmers, the Sina-Madha project has promised to transform agriculture. But villagers said these assurances remain unfulfilled despite politicians\u2019 interventions. \u201cThis year, the situation is so grim that we are forced to protest,\u201d villager Pramod Vasekar said.The grim situation led to an indefinite fast by villagers on Ganesh Chaturthi. They submitted a memorandum to the tehsildar warning of collective self-immolation if their water demand was not met.They also threatened to boycott elections. The protest was called off on Friday after water resources minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil spoke to them.Solapur district collector S Karthikeyan said the irrigation department has conducted a hydrological survey of Tulshi and examined scientific and technical parameters.\u201cBased on their findings, we will send a proposal to the state govt for a canal network to Tulshi and three other villages,\u201d he told TOI.A senior irrigation official from Krishna Valley Development Corporation said a technical analysis of Tulshi, Bavi, Paritewadi and Anjangaon Khurd was conducted in 2023. \u201cThe project cost was around Rs 46.49 crore then, which will escalate now,\u201d he added.Of the 14 water bodies across the four villages, six can be filled through closed pipelines, while the remaining eight would require pumps.\u201cAfter govt\u2019s approval, work on the ground will take some years. These villages require the pipeline. Otherwise, their struggle for water is not going to end for years,\u201d the irrigation official added.For Tulshi\u2019s farmers, the crisis is visible in their fields. Farmers have abandoned fruit plantations and stopped planning fresh cultivation. Nearly 2,700 hectares of agricultural land may turn barren once the monsoon retreats.An emotional Pandurang Mali said, \u201cIt kills me every day to see my crop wither. I can\u2019t water them. I tried to hire tankers, but I can\u2019t afford them now.\u201dMali, 47, once cultivated about 1,000 pomegranate trees on two acres. His house stands on the now-abandoned plantation. \u201cI poured my sweat and blood into this plantation. Last year, I earned Rs 6 lakh, but nothing this year. I don\u2019t know how I am going to live,\u201d he said.His plantation is barely 100m from one of the village\u2019s water bodies. \u201cIf we get canal water, we don\u2019t need any govt help. We will be self-reliant,\u201d Mali said.Farmers turned to dairy farming a few years ago. Almost every family owns cows or buffaloes, but they too are reeling under the water and fodder crisis. \u201cWe will have to buy fodder at high prices because of the shortage,\u201d Vasekar said.The village\u2019s social fabric is also wearing thin. \u201cMen are unmarried because nobody wants to give them their daughters. Families reject proposals because of the water crisis. Govt needs to understand all this,\u201d Mali said.The villagers said that employment, household finances, livestock, migration, and the younger generation have also been affected. \u201cAnd therefore, we feel we should sell our village,\u201d More said.<\/div>\n Pomegranate farmer Pandurang Mali shows his drying plantation in Tulshi village TULSHI\/SOLAPUR: \u2018Village for sale\u2019, says the poster in Tulshi village in Solapur district. The startling, bold words express anger, sarcasm and a deep disquiet among residents waiting for decades for irrigated water.Sarpanch Sharad More said, \u201cAnyone wanting to buy our village can step forward. 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The startling, bold words express anger, sarcasm and a deep disquiet among residents waiting for decades for irrigated water.Sarpanch Sharad More said, \u201cAnyone wanting to buy our village can step forward. 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