It is tough being the district collector of Latur especially when it is reeling under a severe water crisis. However, 39-year-old Pandurang Pole, a 2004 batch IAS officer, seems to be up to the task of managing frayed tempers and the simmering tension between the urban and rural population of Latur, which has seen deficient rainfall over the last three years. The soft-spoken Pole outlines the various measures being taken to tackle drought in this district.

What is the impact of the drought on the livelihood in Latur?

This is the second consecutive year of drought. Fifty per cent rainfall was recorded in the district in the years FY15 and FY16. The average here is 800 mm per annum.

What are the levels in your reservoirs?

Latur has quite a big number of water storages compared to other districts. There are two major dams, 8 medium and 131 minor dams in the district. In addition, there are 131 minor dams, 1,100 percolation tanks or storage tanks, 29 barrages and 150 Kolhapur type weirs (small barrages). The average storage was 15-20 per cent. Currently, we have about 0.6 mn cubic metre (cbm) in Dongargaon, 2.7 mn cbm in Lower Terna dam and 0.5 mn cbm in Bhandarwadi dam for Latur town. Taking into consideration, evaporation rate, and other losses besides requirement of dependent villages, all these three will last till the end of June. Apart from this, we have one million cbm in Dhanegaon barrage, that is extra. There is no need to worry for drinking water for Latur.

What has been your preparedness in terms of rural and urban water management and relief work?

We have reserved all water storages in the month of October only for drinking purpose as per our water use policy. All other uses, including agriculture, come later. We stopped illegal lifting of water for agriculture which was mainly going for water-consuming crops such as sugarcane. We have put in place a rationing mechanism for common water storage such as Manjra dam, Lower Terna Dam and two others since last October. We have temporarily taken over private bore wells and wells (1,100 in number) for village water supply at ₹12,000 per month to the owner.

What about irrigation requirements of farmers?

We have set these priorities for common storage to be used for drinking water. For irrigation, farmers have their own arrangements.

Are you reducing area under sugarcane cultivation to save water?

Out of 6 lakh hectares cultivable area, 50,000 hectares is under sugarcane which is a water consumer. We have already held two rounds of awareness drive — already have spoken to villagers — in terms of alternatives for sugarcane when it came to monetary returns besides creating awareness on ground water use. We are explaining that 80 per cent of underground water is struck within 60 metres — that is the deeper you go, the lesser the chances of striking water. The acreage under sugarcane has also been reduced from 50,000 to 30,000 hectares.

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