NATURAL DISASTERS

Disasters
threaten
sustainable
economic
development worldwide. In the past twenty years,
earthquakes, floods, tropical storms, droughts and
other calamities have killed around three million
people, inflicted injury, disease, homelessness, and
misery on one billion others, and caused damage
worth millions of rupees. Disasters destroy decades
of human effort and investments, thereby placing
new demands on society for reconstruction and
rehabilitation.

Maharashtra is its plateau character. The state is

covered by the Satpura range on its northern side
while Ajanta and Satmala ranges run through the
central part of the state.The Arabian sea guards the
western boundary of Maharashtra with a coastal line
of 720 kilometres. Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh form
the states boundaries on its northern side with the
latter also covering the eastern region while Goa,
Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh are on the Southern
side.
The state receives its rainfall chiefly from the
southwesterly winds. Normally, there are heavy rains
in the coastal region (around 2000 mm), scanty rains
in the rain-shadow regions in the central part (around
500 mm) and medium rains in the eastern part of the
state (around1000mm).

floods are not just restricted to one particular

region, but are spread all over the state.
Maharashtra, therefore, exhibits a high proneness to
floods. Most floods occur during monsoon and
hence, the accompanying damage such as deaths
due to lightning, landslides, house crashes and
drowning have been commonly reported from most
districts. Floods kill by destroying houses, crops and
food stocks. They strip farm lands, wash away
irrigation systems and erode large areas of land or
make them unusable otherwise. Floods are more
threatening for an agricultural economy such as
that of Maharashtra, especially because of the
heavy damage they cause, thereby disrupting the
economy. It may be noted that there are lots of
man-made reasons for the occurrence of floods.
Analyzing the floods in Maharashtra, one observes
that most floods in Maharashtra are flash floods due
to nallah-overflows and poor drainage systems.

the Marathwada and Vidarbha regions of Maharashtra. Even more shocking

are the reports of large-scale suicides by farmers due to crop losses.
Although the government has announced a relief package for drought-affected
areas, these sort of quick- fix solutions are not enough to solve the real
problems on the ground.
For this, we need to understand the geographical and climatic situation of
Maharashtra. As high as 80% to 84% of the agriculture in Maharashtra is
rainfed, which means that it totally depends on rainfall for its crops but there
is a huge variability in rainfall in different regions of the state.
One-third of the state falls under the semi-arid climatic zone and has its
agriculture dependent on the monsoons. Deficient rainfall is reported once
every 5 years and drought conditions occur once every 8-9 years. Marathwada
and Vidarbha have been experiencing severe drought over the last three years
due to deficient rainfall and this has further worsened the situation with a
drastic drop in groundwater levels, acute water shortages and severe loss of
crops during the kharif and rabi seasons.
Over the last 5 years, newspapers have been full of reports related to relief
being provided in the form of water tankers supplying water daily to droughtaffected districts and water shortages have affected domestic needs,
agriculture, livestock, and livelihoods of hundreds. The worst hit are the
resource poor and marginal farmers.
Despite this happening over and over again, the irrigation in the state is very
low at 16% as compared to the national average of 42%. Over-dependence on
private sources of groundwater use such as tube wells, bore wells, wells and
piped water, limits access of farmers to water resources and has also led to
over exploitation and severe drop in groundwater levels in the area.
Thus, the major problem in this area is the lack of assured water supply as no
other methods of irrigation are utilised. Rather, irrigation is more developed in
western Maharashtra as compared to Vidarbha and Marathwada, which needs

What is the actual situation of farmers in the area? Who are

the ones committing suicide?
We have to understand the situation of a farmer in a broader context.
Our policies have not looked at the overall development of farming
communities. Our farmers in the area are totally dependant on land
for their livelihoods. It is only a few farmers that also have other
members in the family working in the cities, who can provide
additional income to the family in times of crisis. And farming is a
resource intensive process. You need money to buy seeds, fertilisers,
pesticides, water, manpower, electricity. You put in all the money for
resources and then depend on the rain and climate to do their bit.
When the vagaries of climate take their toll, the farmer has no way
out. He is then caught in the loan web to sow the next crop for the
next season.
Take the example of Vidarbha where cotton, tur and soyabeans are
the important crops. Low levels of groundwater and irregular supply
of electricity makes it very difficult for farmers. There is only 4%
irrigation in an area where the capacity for irrigation can be as high
as 65%. So the farmers have to invest in tube wells, wells and
pipelines in an area which already has dangerously low levels of
groundwater. So why then does farming become unremunerative? It
is this emphasis on cash crops, overdependence on monsoons, low
productivity, poor irrigation facilities and dependence on wells in an

And do our policies make it easy for him? No way! So what happens
when the farmer ends up with very less produce and cannot get back
an amount even equal to what he has invested in his farm? He has to
look out for another season of good harvest with which he can
support his family and continue cultivation. He then falls into the trap
of procuring loans in the hope of a good harvest next season.
After changes in worldwide policies in 1991, privatisation and free
economy have changed banking practises. Banks are not very eager
to give loans to farmers. The poor and marginal farmers thus fall into
the clutches of moneylenders, who charge higher rates of interest,
which the farmers are unable to repay.
With no guarantee of a good crop even during the next season within
the limitations they have to face, the farmers continue to borrow
from money lenders as they get money on demand. Getting loans
from banks and cooperatives often takes long and they have to go
through agents at times, who demand commissions.
And mind you, my experience shows that farmers are extremely
sentimental and proud with genuine attachment for the piece of land
they own. It is our policies that have unfortunately been unable to
understand their value and give them the respect they deserve by
treating them as beggars! Farmers caught in this trap of cyclical
indebtedness then have no other option, but to resort to suicide!

I think this situation has arisen only because of the lack of sensitivity at the
policy level to understanding agriculture as an important occupation and not
only as a revenue generator but also as a food generator. None of the policies
seem to be designed while keeping in mind the farmer and his convenience.
We have ignored irrigation, there is no infrastructure provided to take care of
the produce from the farms that can degrade fast such as onions and other
vegetables. These need cold storage facilities, which still do not exist on a
large scale leading to massive wastage of resources.
State and national policies are often found to favour input-oriented markets.
Farmers are forced to buy genetically modified seeds at high prices. Fertilisers
and pesticides also come at a price, which farmers have to buy from
companies. So who benefits? It is the manufacturers who sell these at
ridiculous prices and make farmers dependent on these products. Thus it is
the manufacturing companies of these agricultural products that stand to gain
while the farmer is left to his own destiny. The governmental system also
brought in subsidies in agriculture which have put the farmer into the
additional pressure of corruption by which an average farmer has lost his
belief in the system.
Water was also converted into a commodity, and not as a common resource to
be utilised carefully by farmers. This led to diversion of water to dams, there
was no effort to encourage farmers to focus on harvesting water and making it
available at the local level. Focus was diverted to cash crops like sugarcane,
pomegranate and other fruits while local crops like jowar, bajra, oilseeds were
not equally encouraged. The groundwater levels in the area are precariously
down. No efforts are being made to utilise the short span of rainfall available
to harvest water and recharge the groundwater in the region. The soil in the

The government has taken some steps, are those enough?

Will packages serve the purpose?
What has the government done? It has announced 'packages' to take
care of the suicide situation in the state. Trying to compensate for
what can be called as the 'failure of the system' to value and
understand the needs of the farmer by giving money is extremely
wrong and insensitive! Can temporary means like handing away
money really solve the problems of the farmers? Is the government
aware of the real problems of the farmers?
It is firstly important to understand that if at all financial help has to
be given it has to be given keeping in mind a long term plan for the
farmer and his family. Why does the farmer get into this situation? It
is because he is totally dependant on land for his income.
I come from a farming family myself. Why did my family have to
migrate? We had land, cattle, but no other source of income to
depend upon in times of crisis. Can we try to help people to have
education or skills to be able to seek other sources of income in
addition to farming? Overall educational development of the family is
also important and would also help in granting status to the
occupation of farming.

planned keeping in mind the farmer as an important and central unit in agriculture.The problem of
suicides among farmers needs to be tackled in a holistic way.
For example:
Policies need to be designed toimprove the education and quality of lifeof the farmers and their
households along with improvement in infrastructural facilities at the village level. Developing
otheradditional skills or income generating activitiesamong farmers should also be encouraged
to make them better equipped to cope with uncertainties arising out of cultivation.
Improvement in bank lending mechanismsthat help and respect the farmers and provide support
and training should be encouraged, rather than banks functioning as structures that treat the farmer as
a poor victim that needs loan waivers.
Non institutional lending mechanisms likemoneylenders should be brought under regulationso
that they stop charging the farmers high rates of interest that increase the risk of farmers of falling into
debt traps.
Efforts need to be made toimprove irrigation facilitiesin rural areas and to stop emphasis on dams.
Farmers must be encouraged toharvest and use waterin their own areas sustainably and equitably.
Local streams, canals in the villages should be identified, deepened and widened to enhance harvesting
of water. Rivers should be considered as important units of the village and revived.
Development should be targeted at the village and towards small groups of farmers as units to bring
about real change. In our country, farmers suicides have happened due to the failure of the cooperative
movement.
For cash crops like sugarcane, grapes and other fruits, cotton, tur and soyabeans, thecrop insurance
has to be strengthened. Innovative methods for loan settlement should be developed to help farmers
to cope in times of financial crisis.
Dependence of farmers on seeds from manufacturers and fertilisers must be stopped byencouraging
development of local seed grower families, development of organic local fertilisers and pesticides
and further development in products by using Ayurveda rather than using technologies based on
western models.
Theknowledge of farmers is based on their years of experiencewith the local climate. This
should be valued and incorporated at the policy level since most of the knowledge taught even in
agricultural universities is based on western models.
We shouldencourage research and development that can aid our farmerssuch as better
weather predicting systems, knowledge generation that is based on the day to day needs and queries of
farmers. We should encourage better dialogue between agriculturalists and farmers who can work
together to find solutions to problems.
And I think, ultimately we need to remember that farming is a tremendously satisfying activity, it is a
way of life for the farmers and we have to remember that they do the job of feeding us, which is
considered as a highly selfless activity in our culture.