Photo Journalist Nikhil Inamdar, along with his 23-year-old cousin Ameya Marathe, recently traveled to the Marathwada region of Maharashtra to photograph the effects of the region’s severe ongoing drought. In a photo essay published on The News Minute, they describe the consequences of a drought that has now lasted four years in a row and affected all of the region’s 8,000-plus villages.
Captioned: Taps have run dry long ago in Marathwada’s towns and villages. People crowd around municipal tanks to get water. Many have to wait as long as 8 hours in blistering heat to get their fill.
Captioned: A farmer inspects his damaged soybean crop after a prolonged drought in the village of Murud Akola in Marathwada.
Captioned: “How dare you divert water meant for my colony?” – an argument ensues between an old man and the tank official.
Captioned: Lugging water filled jars back home has become a daily chore. This family has hired a tricycle for the day. Schools in the region have closed early owing to the water crisis and children say they were having great fun playing ‘water porters’ during their vacation.
Captioned: Grieving family members of Mahakant Mali, a farmer who took his life, hanging by the neck from a shrunken mango tree at the far edge of his field.
Captioned: With dams, barrages and borewells running dry, trains now pull in water from other parts of the state. Seen here is the Saigaon dam, which is now little more than a cesspool of grime and filth.
Captioned: Left – A relative of Mali shows his only photograph. With him in the picture, is his widowed wife in better times.
