BEED, India– On a sweltering hot day in May, farm worker Shobha Londhe remembers the desperate conditions that led her husband to take his own life. It’s the hottest and driest summer in years, she said, and for farmworkers that often means little or no income, mounting debts and intolerable heat.
Londhe, a resident of the village of Talegaon in western India, knows well the toll these climate change-induced droughts can take on farmers. Three years ago, he said the family’s financial situation was unsustainable as crops failed due to excessive heat and lack of water. Her husband Tatya went out to the field one day in October and never returned.
“He was struggling because we were always in debt,” Londhe said, a framed photograph of her husband at her side. She blames her death in part on the increasingly hot and dry climate in her home region of Marathwada, in the state of Maharashtra. “We are completely dependent on rainwater for agriculture,” she said.
Londhe is one of India’s 120 million farmers sharing rapidly dwindling water resources as groundwater is pumped out faster than rain can replenish it. Drought-prone areas such as Marathwada are worst hit by shortages, making life unbearable for many. As the country continues to vote in its marathon six-week elections, farmers are looking for longer-term solutions to the water problem, such as building networks of canals from distant rivers. But politicians have promised and done little to secure their water, and activists say priority is instead being given to big companies and big farms.
___
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help in India, please contact AASRA at 982-046-6726. In the US, the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org
___
In the western state of Maharashtra, successive droughts caused in part by man-made climate change have compounded farmers’ problems, forcing them to take out loans to buy crops. Community members say that when those crops also fail, some farmers are forced to take their own lives. According to government estimates, 1,088 farmers committed suicide in Marathwada last year, and federal government records show that the number of farmers and farm workers committing suicide across India has increased in recent years.
Debt, poor harvests, alcohol addiction and lack of employment are some of the reasons for the high suicide rate among farmers, says local politician and Dhondrai village head Shital Sakhare. “We’re trying to help young people get more jobs outside of agriculture so they don’t take such drastic measures,” he said.
Londhe said the heat, crop failures and economic problems are worsening since her husband’s death. “This summer we can’t even find work as day laborers, it’s getting difficult for us to survive,” she said. Scientists say the frequency and intensity of droughts are being driven by human-caused climate change, and that groundwater over-extraction and lack of conservation are adding to the crisis.
In most villages in the region visited by The Associated Press, water trucks funded by the local government were parked around main squares to provide drinking water to residents. But the villagers still had no water for their dying crops: the Sindhphana tributary that runs through the region was dry, as were most reservoirs. The electoral campaign in the region on this issue was practically nonexistent.
This is despite the fact that farmers in the area are politically active and “vote every time there are elections,” said Sarjerao Gholap, 76, a resident and retired head of Talegaon village. But when politicians don’t keep their promises, many lose faith in the process, he said.
Gholap said politicians from various parties had in the past promised to establish a canal to supply water to his village, ensure better prices for their products and supply piped water through hand pumps. Gholap said none of this has been implemented and no water is coming out of the hand pump that was installed a year ago in the village.
Manisha Tokle, a Beed-based activist, said most politicians in the region favor those who already have economic power, such as the upper castes, big landowners, sugarcane factory owners and pesticide manufacturers. “They never think about the small farmers, the agricultural workers,” she said.
The average wage for farm workers has remained between $3 and $4 a day for at least 15 years, according to Indian government data, despite repeated calls from farmer groups across the country to raise it in line with the increasing costs. Vegetable prices increased by 27% this year compared to the previous year; tomatoes and onions saw a 38% and 29% increase in their costs.
Atul Jadhav, 26, a smallholder farmer from Kambi village in the region, said the benefits of farming are so dire that he “won’t let” his children take up it when they grow up.
He spends 5,000 rupees ($60) each day to water his five-acre field of sweet lime and sugar cane, but the soil is still completely dry and most of the plants are dead or withered. “I don’t know if there will be anything left if this heat continues, but I have to try,” Jadhav said.
Village head Sakhare said farmers frustrated by water shortages need to vote in large numbers to put the issue on the table, admitting it is not a priority for politicians.
But he warned that while politicians can do more to help find alternative water sources, promote crops that require less water or give financial support to farmers, “they cannot reverse the effect of climate change.”
___
Follow Sibi Arasu on X at @sibi123
___
The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropic organizations, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
This story originally appeared on ABCNews.go.com read the full story
