Drought-Not With Citizens Coming Forward
The drought situation in India needs increasing effort so as to overcome this scenario. Many individuals and NGOs have come forward to contribute to improve the condition faced by people who have been affected by drought. Since 1st May, Maharashtra Trucks & Lorry Association has volunteered to use their vehicles to provide water to Nanded and Parbhani districts. Each day an estimate of 25,000 to 29,000 litres of water is been transported, which in turn is benefiting around 3-4,000 people.
The association has firmly decided to keep this initiative going on till the drought situation improves. “We are aware of the difficult situation in the drought affected regions as compared to what we see in Mumbai. As a responsible association we are sending our tankers, which carry water from nearby sources and transport it to the affected regions”, says Gurmeet Singh Bal, President – Maharashtra Tank Lorry Owners Association. With severe water crisis and rural distress witnessed due to monsoon deficit in the past 2 years, a scientific paper claims that the situation is only going to get worse. Frequent drought monsoons are expected to come in India’s way between 2020 and 2049.
The paper is yet to be published in Current Science. Suryoday Parivar, an NGO based in Indore is leveraging crowd-funding platform to build canals in Marathawada in Maharashtra. They will store rainwater and help replenish groundwater, which will eventually benefit the communities in the region. Fulora Foundation, another NGO has managed to distribute around 54 lakh litres of water in the Beed region and have adopted 15 villages to guide and educate on water conservation when monsoon arrives. Simultaneously, Mumbai residents have rose to the situation and have come forward to adopt families who are affected by drought.
They provide food to people who have come to the city and also providing crop seeds and fertilizers to farmers. Anybody Can Help a volunteer group started by 4 individuals a year back has been active in connecting individuals who want to volunteer for welfare of the society.
The group has been active in different activities from contributing relief materials during the Nepal to helping the drought affected regions. Volunteers from the group have been working in 11 villages in Maharashtra to transport water from the nearby available source. Apart from transporting water the group also is working with the local communities to build check dams and bore-well. “Providing water is something that is needed right now, but also a long term solution is important. The government is doing the best it can but corporate, NGOs, citizens need to come forward and work in sync”, says Sonal Shah Kamdar, Convener, Anybody Can Help. Although various sections of the society are doing their bit to contribute, there is a lot more that can be done. India has witnessed drought in the last two years (2014 and 2015) and due to unpredictable monsoons, we need to increasingly workout solutions. There is a need for each individual to come forward and contribute towards the welfare of the society in the way one can.
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The CSR Journal Team
