Bibekhed village in Buldana district sparkles brightly against the bleak backdrop of Vidarbha known for its despairing farming community. Till about ten years ago, men here wouldn
For the past eight years, standing crops of the three tehsils of Kannad, Gangapur, Vaijapur and some parts of Phulambri in Aurangabad district lay vulnerable, not only to drought and heavy rains, but also to deer herds.
Mumbai: Water woes only increase for the people of Maharashtra. The scenario is so bad that authorities are forced to take help from neighbouring states to fill up tankers which supply drinking water to rural areas. The state administration admits the situation in Marathwada and Vidarbha could get worse if there is a delayed monsoon.
POLA IS THE HARVEST FESTI-val in Maharashtra. On this day every August, farmers in the agricultural belts of the state bathe their buffaloes, paint their horns and parade them around their villages. As the villagers of Bhadumri (in western Vidarbha) were busy sprucing up their cattle in August 2006, 35-year-old Anil Shende, a marginal farmer, staggered out of his two-room mud hut and collapsed.
A ray of hope is dawning in a few hundred villages of Washim and Akola districts, thanks to a project called the Integrated Sustainable Agricultural Programme (INSAP) being implemented by Yuva-Rural (Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action) with the help of Swiss-Aid India.
