PUTPAK (YADGIR DISTRICT) : Putpak, on the eastern edge of Karnataka, is a nondescript village six kms from Telangana border. Its claim to fame is that the taluk which it comes under, Gurmitkal, was represented by Mallikarjuan Kharge, the leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, seven times in the state Assembly.
The village is reeling under severe drought now.
Out of the four borewells in the village, one has gone dry already. The villagers fear that in another month or two, the other wells, too, will stop yielding water.
Mareppa, 70, says the situation is similar to that of 1972. “Idu Bahattara Baragaala Mirislikattaadri Sabra (It is worse than the 1972 drought).” As nearby villages are also reeling under drought, it would be difficult to get water, he says.
An adult needs nearly four liters of drinking water per day and about 125 liters for other domestic purposes. But as of now, one is getting only about 60 liters from the borewells.
Bhimaraya, Panchayat Development Officer, in-charge, Putpak Grama Panchayat, said he has brought the situation to the knowledge of the government.
Parvatamma Gurral, 45, lost her husband seven years ago. She relies on a walker to move around. She says, ”I have two sons. The elder is in Mumbai with his wife to work as labourers. He will not send any money. The younger son is only 14 and attends school but does odd jobs so that we can make both ends meet.”
Most people in the village have small land holdings of two or three acres. Income from agriculture is meager, forcing people to migrate to Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Mumbai. This year the drought situation is severe compared to the past years.
The village has 5,000 voters and nearly 3,500 of them have migrated leaving the aged parents and the school-going children behind. Some families have left the village taking their children along with them.
Major crops in the village are red gram, cotton and groundnut. Crop loss is more than 70 percent, says Mallikarjun Varad, Agriculture Officer, Gurmitkal taluk. If it rains within 15 days, the villagers may get a yield of 30 to 40 percent or else the situation would worsen. Those under crop insurance scheme will get insurance benefits, he said.
In Putpak thanda (Jawaharnagar) which is about 2 kms from Putpak village, the situation is not different. Here too 70 percent of the adults have migrated looking for employment.
Sangeeta, a mother of two, has left for Mumbai along with her husband to look for jobs, leaving her young children with her mother, Badlibai, and mother-in-law, Shantibai. The fields in the thanda remain uncultivated.
Badlibai and Shantibai told The New Indian Express that Ravi and Sangeeta had no option but migrate to survive. Though they have become old, it is their duty to look after their grandsons, they said.
Somla Naik, a villager, said that neither the central study team nor state ministers have visited their thanda or Putpak village. Varad said that 13,173 hectares of land belonging to 15,926 farmers in the taluk has been affected due to drought. The government has sought ` 11.19 crore in aid, he added.
Ratindranath Sugur, Joint Director, Agriculture Department, Yadgir district, said that 95 out of 468 villages in Yadgir district have been identified as problematic.
In Gurmitkal taluk, of the total 64 villages, 13 villages, including Putpak, have been identified as having drinking water deficit.
Roads in Gurmitkal are, relatively, in good shape. Most of the houses have been given tap connections under the Jal Jeevan Mission. But due to severe drought, the villagers are not getting sufficient water.