In drought-hit Maharashtra, no water to immerse ashes of the dead

KOLHAR (Ahmednagar): In a land where there is no water for the living, it would be too optimistic to expect some for a final send-off to the dead. The stretch of the Pravara river that passes through Kolhar village in drought-hit Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district, has dried up, leaving not as much as a puddle for people to immerse the ashes of departed kin.

Residents of villages across the district are facing a similar predicament, and, in their desperation to secure moksha for the deceased, have found a last resort in an unlikely place. Locals have been leasing water tankers to immerse the ashes.

“Water tankers for dashkriya vidhi are available here,” states an advertisement painted on the wall of a bridge across the Pravara river, whose bed is dotted with carcasses of cattle and birds.


“What could be a bigger punishment than this? One cannot get a drop of river water even after death,” said Dada Suryawanshi, a septuagenarian local, “Many people throw the asthis of their kin into the dry riverbed. Others bury them. Some are lucky to get water from tankers, while those who have the money take the ashes to a place that still has water in its river.”

“For most of us, however,” he added, “the dry Pravara is the final destination.”

The old man digs the riverbed every day with a shovel, hoping to find some water.

Water tanker supplier Shivaji Londhe caters solely to bereaved families. “In the days after the cremation, water is required for almost every ritual,” he said.Londhe’s business is thriving. “...Except for the monsoon,” he added, “the Pravara river hardly has any water. This is why I started my business.”

Radhabai, who sells earthen pots close to the river, recalled a time about 60 years ago when “the Pravara flowed throughout the year”. “We used to drink the river’s water. But see what has happened now,” she said, and blamed residents for destroying the river. “They have extracted water, dug borewells and, most importantly, taken out all the sand from the riverbed,” she added.

Villagers, who get tap water every 10 days for 15-20 minutes, blame the sand mafia and sugarcane farmers “for sucking every drop of water”. “We are forced to hire water tankers,” said a villager as small trucks of the gram panchayat unloaded garbage into the riverbed and set it on fire.