Stop sugarcane farming, Samruddhi E-way to save water: Expert

Scarcity of drinking water was leading to a huge migration crisis in Maharashtra, economist and former member of State Planning Board H M Desarda, said on Friday, and sought an immediate ban on water-guzzling crops like sugarcane in the state.

He also demanded that big-ticket projects like the Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Expressway should be immediately be stopped as they require huge amount of water.

The Samruddhi corridor is the pet project of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Desarda, who is also the vice president of the state Drought Mitigation and Famine Eradication Board, said in a press conference here that Maharashtra was heading towards an unprecedented famine situation due to man-made factors and failure of government policies, and not due to natural causes.

"Earlier, natural resources like ground water banks were intact. But now, in the last 40 years, we have exhausted all the water. In 1961, one lakh agriculture pump-sets were in use in Maharashtra.

"Today, there are 40 lakh pump-sets drawing water not for the survival of common people, but for crops like sugarcane, banana and for production of alcohol and big construction projects. The political class has done a great damage to the common people. The government is not doing drought mitigation and famine eradication work," he said.

"All the available water resources, whether it is flowing water, impounded surface water or ground water, should be entirely reserved for drinking and livelihood purposes," Desarda said.

"A huge migration is happening in Maharashtra due to water scarcity. Such migrations are not for jobs or livelihood purposes, but due to scarcity of drinking water. Districts like Buldhana, Washim, Akola, Yavatmal and many other parts are facing shortage of drinking water," he added.

He said perennial crops like sugarcane should be banned in Maharashtra as they were "destroying" the state.

"Water required for one hectare of sugarcane crop is three crore litres. That much amount of water can be used by one thousand people for a year. Presently, there is sugarcane crop on 10 lakh hectares, which is using water that can be used by about 100 crore people. It is a straight challenge: whether you want to save sugarcane or people," he said.

According to him, even if Maharashtra stops sugarcane farming, the country won't face much problems as there is good production of sugar in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

"In UP and Bihar, the cultivation of sugarcane is rain dependent, whereas in Maharashtra it is mostly groundwater dependent," he said.

Raising concerns over "wastage of water" on big construction projects, he said he Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Expressway should be stopped.

"There is acute water shortage in Maharashtra and water is being wasted for this expressway. Big construction works like the Samruddhi expressway should be stopped immediately," he said.

"How can you expect industries to come up on this expressway when several MIDCs (Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporations) are witnessing that industries are shutting down," he observed.