Dubale Patil, of Shri Jagadamba Borewells in Beed, is distraught. Patil used to get 5-6 contracts a day until recently but now with most rural folks holding on to their little savings for tough days ahead, he hardly gets any telephone calls.

Anil Light House’s sales of desert coolers have halved from an average 50 per day. Pankaj Electronics has seen a sharp decline in washing machine sales from about 30-35 a month to about 4-5 a month.

At Kirti Beej Bhandar, 75-old-year Kanti Shah has seen a dip in the sale of seed to just 10 per cent of his earlier average daily business. “There are 40 such shops in Beed where everyone is sitting idle and working with minimal manpower, down from an average of three per shop to one. We have no manpower and no space to switch to other businesses. It is time people understand the value of water. Masses should be educated on how to use water,” he says.

Soap sales in Beed have also gone down. Kailash Kasat, a distributor of FMCG products, says “Four years ago we sold 150 tonnes a month — 105 tonnes of washing powder and 45 tonnes of bars. We now sell 120-130 tonnes.”

Vinayak Ghodke of Apeksha auto service centre runs his business by ordering 4,000 litres of tanker water. But business is down from about 50- 60 two wheelers a day to 20-30. Same is the case for laundry services provider Renuka dry cleaners which has voluntarily reduced the washing business.

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