Pune: The drought-hit Kamkhera village in Beed taluka is all set to try rainwater harvesting, hoping it would end the dry spell. Half the wells in this village have dried up and villagers here have now invited Pune-based Paranjya to help set up two rainwater harvesting plants.

Paranjya, that has introduced several residential societies in Pune to rainwater harvesting as an effective technique to conserve water, will travel to Beed on May 13 to educate villagers on its benefits.

PUNE: As many as 3,184 villages and 7,650 hamlets are facing severe water shortage in the state, according to the latest report generated by the state government.

About 3,793 tankers are currently supplying drinking water to these villages and hamlets periodically. Most of these villages and hamlets are from eastern part of western Maharashtra and Marathwada.

Mumbai: Even as politicians are busy criticizing Ajit Pawar’s jeering comment on drought, water stocks in all the dams in Marathwada touched the lowest level ever on Tuesday.

Going by the information released by the water resources department on Tuesday, stock in all the dams in the entire Marathwada region stood at 8% of the total count, compared to 18% the same day last year and 42% the year before that.

A large part of Maharashtra has been declared drought-hit. But distribution of water is quite incongruous. While the few who are politically and financially powerful take the lion’s share for sugarcane crops, thermal plants and other industries, the rest are struggling to survive.

Read More: http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/drought-equity

This summer, people in southern Maharashtra can enjoy either electricity or water, not both. Until recently, the state had prioritised use of water for industrial purposes over agriculture.

Pune: The state government has disbursed Rs 413.98 crore so far to tackle the water scarcity situation in different parts of the state. Western Maharashtra and Marathwada are the worst affected regions in the state as they have received the lowest rainfall in the state during the last monsoon.

The government has allocated over Rs 400 crore to the department of water supply and the department of revenue, a senior secretary from the state revenue department said. “Besides, the government has given powers to the district collectors for spending up to Rs 2 crore as emergency funds. The funds are meant to ensure quick payment to water tankers, as many of them are privately owned.”

The tehsil officer at Vahera village in Beed district of Maharashtra was having a hard time of it, after being held hostage for an entire day by a mob of about 100 villagers.

New Delhi Maharashtra has banned the sale and distribution of the genetically modified cotton seeds of Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company (Mahyco) with immediate effect on charges of supplying inferior quality seeds, a senior state government official said on Thursday.

“Mahyco has not received any official communication from the Maharashtra government about the cancellation of its license to sell Bt cotton seeds in the state,” the company said in a statement. “Mahyco has complied with all the guidelines set by the state agriculture department and has always provided required information to the agriculture department....We will address the concerns raised by the authority once we have received the official communication from the department,” the statement added.

For the first time, the State government filed cases of cheating and criminal breach of trust in 18 districts against Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Company (Mahyco) for failing to deliver the promised quota of a single variety of Bt cotton seeds in th0e 2011 kharif season.

Official sources said before sowing last year, Mahyco had accepted bookings from dealers and retailers for 16.76 lakh packets of MRC 7351 variety Bt cotton seeds but delivered only 9-10 per cent of what was assured.

Several parts of Maharashtra are reeling under water crisis, even before the onset of summer.

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