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Death in parched farm field reveals growing India water tragedy
Conflicts between industry and farmers getting worse as water becomes more and more scarce
Rakteem Katakey | Rajesh Kumar Singh | Archana Chaudhary
New Delhi: Sachin Ingale slipped out of his family?s two-room, white-painted mud hut about 4pm and walked into their farm field where the 22-year-old took a deep swig of pesticide from a plastic bottle. He died later that evening.
Four months later, the mercury is pushing 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) in his village in Maharashtra. Inside the family hut, a picture of a serene Buddha decorates a wall above a cracked concrete floor.
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More than 2,200 farmers in India committed suicide in the past four years, as water loss and drought drove them deeper into debt. Sachin Ingale killed himself the same day his family?s tractor was repossessed for two missed loan repayments.
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The drought in Maharashtra isn?t just because of a lack of rainfall. In the state?s Vidharbha region, where Indiabulls is building a power station, monsoon rains last year were an average 8% above normal, according to Meteorological Department data.
?Rainfall isn?t always the problem, inefficient distribution for irrigation is,? said Mandar Sathe, a senior researcher for Prayas. ?A lot of the drought is man-made.?
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read the whole story here; http://beta.livemint.com/Politics/vb...ater-trag.html
Conflicts between industry and farmers getting worse as water becomes more and more scarce
Rakteem Katakey | Rajesh Kumar Singh | Archana Chaudhary
New Delhi: Sachin Ingale slipped out of his family?s two-room, white-painted mud hut about 4pm and walked into their farm field where the 22-year-old took a deep swig of pesticide from a plastic bottle. He died later that evening.
Four months later, the mercury is pushing 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) in his village in Maharashtra. Inside the family hut, a picture of a serene Buddha decorates a wall above a cracked concrete floor.
...
More than 2,200 farmers in India committed suicide in the past four years, as water loss and drought drove them deeper into debt. Sachin Ingale killed himself the same day his family?s tractor was repossessed for two missed loan repayments.
...
The drought in Maharashtra isn?t just because of a lack of rainfall. In the state?s Vidharbha region, where Indiabulls is building a power station, monsoon rains last year were an average 8% above normal, according to Meteorological Department data.
?Rainfall isn?t always the problem, inefficient distribution for irrigation is,? said Mandar Sathe, a senior researcher for Prayas. ?A lot of the drought is man-made.?
...
read the whole story here; http://beta.livemint.com/Politics/vb...ater-trag.html