$1 bn spent on Rajasthan water projects, just 20% of Barmer is irrigated

Just 20% of Barmer's farms are irrigated, primarily with tube-wells (63.73%), and some with open wells and canals.

It was March 2019, and Pabusari village in Barmer district in western Rajasthan was parched. Another year of bad monsoon--the fifth--had failed 36-year-old farmer Hariram Meghwal, leaving him with no option but to migrate in search of work to ensure his family's survival.

Meghwal had spent Rs 30,000 on sowing bajra (pearl millet), guar (cluster beans) and moong (green gram) on his six-hectare farm, but drought over successive years had laid it to waste.

Pabusari, about 90 km from the district headquarters, was among the 2,741 villages of Barmer’s total 2,775 to be declared ‘drought-hit’ by the Barmer district administration in 2018, based on a crop assessment report for the last kharif (winter cropping) season.

Meghwal, now working as a driver in Barmer city, said repeated droughts, with the resultant crop damage and financial burden, had spelt doom for farmers across Barmer, particularly as they had received no government support such as alternative employment, fair crop insurance payouts, or timely completion of irrigation projects.

With more than 40% of India’s land area facing a drought and pre-monsoon rains during March and April having fallen short by 27%, this is the fifth story in our series on drought, and has been reported from Rajasthan.

The previous stories can be read here, here, here and here. As in other drought-hit parts of the country, prolonged drought in Barmer and other parts of western Rajasthan is forcing farmers to abandon their fields to migrate to cities in search of work and sustenance. There is little help from the government, either in terms of immediate relief or long-term efforts such as completion of irrigation projects on time, farmers told IndiaSpend.

Many farmers we spoke to said since no party in government has been able to ameliorate farm distress, in the ongoing general elections, they would vote by caste or community ties. “We have been facing drought for a long time. When there is no crop, do such promises matter?” said farmer Prahlad Ram of Gadara Road area, now a daily-wage worker, of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promise to double farmer income by 2022.

Business Standard