‘Village for Sale, Price: Water’: Tulshi’s desperate protest after 26-year water crisis

Solapur: Desperate for water as farms and wells dry up, residents of Tulshi village in Maharashtra’s Solapur district have put up a striking banner declaring “Village for Sale”, with water listed as the only price.

The unusual protest by around 7,000 residents of Tulshi in Madha tehsil comes after years of government assurances and incomplete work on an irrigation project that villagers say could permanently address their water shortage.

'Price: Water'

The banner is a symbolic protest aimed at drawing attention to the village’s worsening water crisis.

“The village faces water scarcity every year. Though the canals of the Sina-Madha scheme pass close to the village, we don’t benefit from it. By putting up the board saying ‘Village for Sale, Price: Water’, we are trying to draw the government’s attention to our plight,” Tulshi sarpanch (head of Gram Panchayat) Sharad More said.

The village has been dependent on water tankers for several years. Poor rainfall during the current monsoon has further worsened the shortage.

26 years of incomplete excavation

Villagers say around 800 metres of excavation work near the seventh and eighth outlets of the Sina-Madha Lift Irrigation Scheme has remained incomplete for the past 26 years.

More said completing the work could provide a permanent solution to Tulshi’s water problem.Despite work being undertaken under the Jal Jeevan Mission, villagers said the scheme has not been effective because the local water source has dried up.
Also read | 4 killed, including 3-year-old boy, after LPG cylinder blast collapses UP house

Hunger strike and 'thali-naad' protest

The villagers began a hunger strike on September 14 demanding a solution to the water crisis. They later staged a 'thali-naad', or beating of utensils, outside the Madha tehsil office.

Residents have warned that they will intensify the agitation if their demands are not addressed.

Tulshi has 14 ponds and wells that have reportedly dried up. Villagers said filling these water bodies could significantly ease the shortage of drinking and irrigation water, adding that a proposal and estimate for the work have already been prepared.

Water shortage affects farming, livelihoods

The crisis has affected the livelihoods of residents, most of whom depend on agriculture and animal husbandry.

Villagers also say the shortage has had an impact on the personal lives of young men in the hamlet. More claimed that around 350 men remain unmarried because families are reluctant to give their daughters in marriage to people from a village facing severe water scarcity.
Also read | Cleaner air or disrupted routines? Delhi rolls out construction bans, WFH and vehicle curbs

Projects announced, but work remains pending

In 2024, the Krishna Valley Development Corporation reportedly approved the provision of water from the Sina-Madha scheme to Tulshi and several other drought-prone villages, including Bavi, Paritewadi, Kurdu, Pimpalkhunte, Ambad and Anjangaon.

Instructions were also issued to submit the third revised administrative approval for the scheme.

In January this year, Rs 90 lakh was announced for 2025-26 to supply water through a closed pipeline from the Sina-Madha scheme to the Bhavani percolation tank in Tulshi. The project was expected to help meet the village’s drinking water and irrigation needs.

More, however, said villagers had only heard about funds being sanctioned through the District Planning and Development Committee (DPDC) and that no concrete work had followed.

Government promises help

Villagers said they had repeatedly approached the administration and staged protests, but a permanent solution remained elusive.

“Our agitation will continue until we get water,” More said.

Speaking to reporters in Pune, state Agriculture Minister Dattatray Bharne acknowledged the issue and said the state government would provide all possible help to the village.

PTI