Maharashtra Drought Crisis: Shrikant Jadhav of Junnar finds an alternative to counter the problem

• Due to summer, this year, many of the rivers in India like the Krishna, Cauvery and many others have dried up
• As the result of this extreme dry condition, a situation of severe drought has dawned upon several states of India
• Shrikant Jadhav, took it upon himself to provide water to the drought affected areas with the help of his very limited resources

In 2016, several parts of India are facing a severe drought problem. As pointed out by the Groundwater Surveys and Development Agency, Maharashtra is the most affected state. Groundwater tables in the region have fallen way below the permissible limit and hand pumps have dried. It is after a long time that India has to face such consecutive droughts. The water scarcity is affecting a huge number of people across the drought-affected states such as Maharashtra.

The government is trying its best to help out the distressed people. A water-carrying train had been arranged to carry water to Latur in Marathwada, a severely drought affected part of Maharashtra. Junnar in the city of Pune in Maharashtra is another region gravely disturbed by the water scarcity. The government sends water supplies once every month but that is not enough for so many people.

A resident of Junnar, Shrikant Jadhav has been seeing the plight of the people for a long time and then he decided to do something to put an end to their suffering. "I see the rich people getting drinking water cans – this solves their problem. But the poor cannot even afford water these days," he said to The Better India.

Shrikant has a small mobile repair shop in Junnar and it was not easy for him to take this initiative. He has spent his own money in order to supply water to the people. He approached a water supplier and negotiated the rate to 35 rupees for each can. He has supplied over 20,000 litres of water till now. He continues to carry on his noble work every day.

He calls his initiative "Parivartan Helpline Seva" and runs it along with the support from his family members. His card reads, "If you are struggling for drinking water then just make one call to get free drinking water".

India needs more people like Shrikant Jadhav who enjoy helping the distressed and working for a cause which is bigger than their own.

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