Scorching apathy at 47°C: Kavatha digs for drops in cracked riverbed

AKOLA: In Akola, one of Maharashtra's hottest districts where temperatures soar past 47°C, Kavatha, a village in Balapur taluka, doesn't have a drinking water source since 50 years. Nearly 2,500 villagers scoop muddy seepage from shallow pits and cracked riverbeds to collect water for survival.

Hand pumps have gone dry, wells have failed. The only remaining source is the trickle of water that seeps through the sand after digging makeshift pits in the riverbed. Kavatha is Maharashtra's dark underbelly, where the state govt claims to be close to the $1trillion economy target.

Kavatha stands as a stark symbol of systemic failure as residents wake up, not knowing whether they will find enough water to drink. And here's the irony — there's a large barrage on the adjoining Man river with a capacity of around 10 million cubic metres designed to irrigate nearly 1,600 hectares, but villagers are forced to dig into the cracked riverbed to collect water.

At dawn, before the heat becomes unbearable, men, women and children gather near the riverbed carrying plastic cans, steel pots and buckets. They dig shallow pits and wait for water to slowly seep upward. The process takes time, patience and desperation. For many villagers, this has been their way of life for decades.

"I have been fetching water like this for 50 years," said resident Vandana Khanderao. "In every season, we depend on the river. When the river dries up, we dig the sand and drink from the trickle."

The groundwater is heavily saline and largely unfit for consumption. Residents say they are left with impossible choices — drink contaminated seepage water from the riverbed or consume salinated groundwater that triggers serious health problems.

"If we don't get this water, we are forced to drink saline water," said villager Raju Van Khade. "That causes stomach diseases and even kidney problems," he said.

The salinity problem in the region is severe. Local groundwater reportedly contains very high levels of dissolved salts, leaving visible white residue on utensils and household surfaces. Villagers say the water is not suitable even for routine domestic use, yet for years they have had no alternative.

The burden of water collection has deeply affected daily life in Kavatha. Children wake up at dawn to fetch water before going to school, often arriving late or missing classes.

"On school days, we first go to collect water," said student Dheeraj Chopra. "If we don't bring water home, there is nothing to drink or bathe with. Many times, we reach school late."

For daily wage labourers, every hour spent searching for water means lost income. "We earn daily and survive daily," said a farm worker from the village. "But several hours are lost fetching water. If we miss work, we lose wages. Then how are we supposed to feed our families," asked the daily wager.

The crisis has even begun reshaping social relationships. Villagers say marriage proposals increasingly collapse because families from other places do not want to send daughters to a village struggling for drinking water. "People clearly tell us — first arrange water, then talk about marriage," one villager said.
A PROJECT CAUGHT IN POLITICS

What makes the crisis more frustrating for residents is the presence of Man river barrage itself. The project was initiated around 2014-15 and completed by 2021-22 with a promise of irrigation benefits and groundwater recharge. The barrage was expected to store fresh monsoon water, which would gradually percolate underground and reduce salinity levels in nearby aquifers over time

Kavatha is part of a multi-village water supply scheme covering 69 villages, estimated at Rs 250 crore. According to local MLA Nitin Deshmukh of Shiv Sena (UBT), nearly 90% work had been completed under the previous govt.

"After the regime change, the project was stalled. After protests, work has now resumed, and we expect water to reach the village," he said. But despite completion of the structure, the reservoir remained dry for years.

Officials later revealed that a major infrastructure oversight prevented water storage. When the barrage filled, its backwater spread extended nearly 6km upstream, reaching a low-height culvert on the national highway near Lohara village. Storing water risked submerging the crossing and disrupting traffic movement on the highway.

As a result, authorities chose not to impound water in the barrage from 2022 onward, effectively rendering the multi-crore project defunct, while villagers continued to suffer.

The issue has now reportedly been resolved after the highway bridge near Lohara was elevated. Authorities say the barrage will finally be able to store water from the coming monsoon season, raising hopes that groundwater recharge may begin and drinking water conditions could gradually improve.

But in Kavatha, promises from officials no longer inspire immediate confidence. Villagers say they have approached authorities for decades, submitted complaints repeatedly and listened to assurances year after year, while continuing to depend on pits dug into a dry riverbed.

Kavatha's story is more than a local water shortage. It is a stark reminder of how gaps in planning, delayed execution and administrative neglect can turn public infrastructure into symbols of failure. In one of India's fastest-developing states, thousands of people are still fighting every day for the most basic necessity — safe drinking water.