Image source, ANI
People are seen in one house, while four-five nearby houses are found closed. Only elderly people were sitting outside some houses. They were waiting for their children and grandchildren.
Many streets looked completely deserted. About 60 percent of the houses in the village were locked.
This picture is of Wakad Ijara village of Mahagaon tehsil of Yavatmal district of Maharashtra. What effect is drought having on villages?
To understand this, the BBC News team reached Pusad and Mahagaon areas of Yavatmal district most affected by drought.
We saw similar scenes in many villages there. So the question is, where did the people of these villages go after locking their houses?
The fields have dried up due to drought. Because of this people left the villages in search of work. Some people have gone to Pune, Mumbai and Gujarat.
At the same time, some people have gone to Telangana to work in cotton fields.
'When nothing grew in the fields, the son went to the city'
Image source: Bhagyashree Raut
The drought has also forced farmers to leave their villages. Pralhad Rathod is one of these farmers.
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He has four and a half acres of farming. But this year nothing grew in the field.
The soybean crop was completely destroyed. At the same time, the cotton crop also started drying up.
When it appeared that there would be no yield from the farm, his son Vaman moved to Pune with his family in August itself.
There they do the work of palladari i.e. carrying the burden. After Diwali, Pralhad's two more sons are also going to go to another place in search of employment.
Pralhad says, "My son used to do farming. If labor was available somewhere, he would also do it. But this year nothing grew in the field."
“The condition of all the farmers is the same, so they are not getting any labor work. That is why my son went to Pune with his family.”
Pralhad says that there is no food and drink left in the village, what to do in such a situation?
'No one is ready to pay even Rs 200 as wages'
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The area behind Pralhad's house, which is the last end of the village. Some women were seen sitting there.
There too many houses were locked. When we talked to him, we came to know that his family members had also gone out in search of employment.
50 year old Lalita Rathod was also included among these women. Her son and husband had gone to Pune a month ago in search of employment. Now Lalita lives alone at home.
She says, "There is such a drought that no one is ready to pay even Rs 200 as labor. My family members have gone to Pune. Now after Diwali, I will also go there."
"I will look for work in the city by washing utensils or cooking at someone's house. I will have to go to earn my living. I cannot die of hunger by staying here."
The villages of Yavatmal district are divided into two parts. One of these is Basti and the other is Tanda.
A settlement is an old settlement. People of different castes and tribal communities live in it. At the same time, only people of Banjara community live in Tande.
Even in Wakad Ijara village, people of tribal and Dalit communities live in the colony.
The houses in Tande are already locked. But the condition of the colony is also no different.
Some people who had fled due to the death of a relative in this village had returned. We met these people.
Gokarna Kamble had gone to Narayangaon in Pune for work 15 days ago. But there a girl from his family died in an accident.
Because of this he had to return to the village.
She says, "We were hoping that there would be some crop in the field. But nothing grew."
"We went to Pune 15 days ago. There, some people pay Rs 200 as labour, others Rs 300."
Gokarna says, "But if you get work for four days, you have to sit at home for eight days. You don't get any work."
Now after Diwali, she is going to Pune again in search of work. He has farming. But, nothing grew in the field. For this reason they have to migrate.
'If the government had planned, migration would not have happened'
The impact of drought on this area is so severe that the rivers and drains have already dried up. Earlier, there was water in the drain flowing near Bori village till February. But now that drain has dried up.
The ponds have also dried up. There are cracks in the ground. The cotton crop has not grown. At the same time, there has been no budding on the cotton plants in the rain-dependent fields. For this reason, farm laborers and farmers are having to migrate.
But farmer Manish Jadhav says that if labor was available in the village itself and the government had planned in advance, the village would not have remained deserted like this.
He says, "This is our question to the government. The government knew that El Nino could have an impact. In such a situation, micro planning should have been done instead of just doing paper work. If preparations had been made in advance through the Employment Guarantee Scheme, then farmers and farm laborers would not have faced this problem today."
"Announcements were made only on paper. Merely changing the name of the Employment Guarantee Scheme will not provide employment to the people."
'It is important to fill your stomach, study next year'
This migration has also affected the education of children. Many children studying have left the village with their parents.
Six children have dropped out of primary school in the village. They have gone out with their parents for labour.
The people of the village say that the largest number of those who migrated are secondary school children.
Two grandsons of Pralhad Rathore are also included in these. He left school and went to Pune with his parents.
Pralhad says, "Now they are not going to school. They left their studies. If they were here, they would have gone to school. When there is no support left for food and drink, then how can studies continue?"
Gokarna had also gone to Pune with her son, daughter-in-law and grandson. However, she has returned to the village for a few days. But, the rest of the people are still in Pune.
She says, "The government should give us work, so that our children's education can continue. We had taken our grandson with us. He missed his studies. Now there is no work, so what should we do?"
"It is also important to fill the stomach. Studies can be done next year also."
A total of 43 children are enrolled in the primary school of the village. Six of these children have migrated with their parents for labour.
At the same time, some children are studying by staying with their grandmother or other relatives.
School teacher Uttam Deshmukh says, "Such a situation does not happen every year. This year there has been a drought. Most of the people's livelihood depends on daily wages. Due to this, a big crisis of survival has arisen. People have gone out in search of employment, taking their children with them."
At present only 30 to 40 percent people are visible in the village. But the people of the village say that they too have stayed here only till Diwali. After this they will also go out for labour.
The people of the village are also expressing their fear that after that the entire village may become almost deserted.
Published by Collective Newsroom for the BBC.
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