Read in Hindi | Farmers and residents of Pandhurna district face water shortages after the region received below-normal monsoon rainfall. Farmers say their kharif crop yields declined, and they lack sufficient water to sow chickpeas for the rabi season. Against this backdrop, farmers, led by the District Congress Committee, staged a protest demanding that the district be declared drought-affected.
On Saturday, October 17, the Congress held a gathering at Jagnade Chowk in the district headquarters, attended by former MP Nakul Nath. Later, the protesters marched to the collectorate and submitted a memorandum outlining their demands.
Farmers said that since their kharif crops had been affected, the loans they had taken from cooperative societies to purchase seeds and fertilisers should be waived, along with their electricity bills. They also demanded adequate compensation for crop losses and immediate insurance payouts to farmers enrolled in the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY).
Kharif Crops in Crisis
Shankar Bagde, who travelled from Pandhari village in Sausar tehsil to join the protest, had cultivated cotton on 10 acres of land. He said his farm, located in a plateau region, depended entirely on rainfall for irrigation. However, inadequate rainfall this year had left his cotton crop immature.
Ramesh Dhoke from Siratha village reported a similar experience. Last year, he harvested 30 quintals of cotton from his three-acre farm. This year, he said, producing even 10 quintals would be difficult. Tur (pigeon pea) production also declined. Compared with five quintals last year, he was unlikely to harvest even two quintals this season.
Dhoke said his five-horsepower water pump, which usually ran for six hours a day at this time of year, could now run for barely an hour due to the water shortage. With the cotton crop still not fully mature, he said it would be difficult to recover his losses amid the water shortage.
Water Shortage
Bagde said his village received drinking water only once every two days, raising concerns that the shortage could worsen in the coming weeks.
The India Meteorological Department’s Bhopal centre recorded 623.5 mm of rainfall in Pandhurna between June 1 and September 28, 22% below the normal of 800.5 mm.
The Water Resources Information Centre lists at least 10 dams in present-day Pandhurna district, which comprises Pandhurna and Sausar tehsils. All are located in Sausar tehsil. The Jam and Kanhan rivers are also important water sources for the district. Farmers said smaller rivers and check dams near their villages had dried up. During reporting, we also found at least 10 check dams that had run dry.
Farmers expect the shortage to affect their rabi crops. Bagde said he usually grows wheat and chickpeas during the rabi season, but this year he was unsure whether he would have enough water even to sow chickpeas.
Orange Trees at Risk of Drying Up
Madhya Pradesh is among India’s leading orange-producing states, accounting for around 30% of the country’s total orange production. Located 88 km from Nagpur, popularly known as the Orange City, Pandhurna district is known for its orange cultivation.
The district comprises two blocks, Pandhurna and Sausar, which produce 250,500 and 155,000 metric tonnes of oranges, respectively. Citrus farming is another major source of income for him.
Anil Mendhe from Marud cultivates cotton, tur, chillies and other vegetables on 10 acres. He said inadequate rainfall and intense sunlight had stressed his orange trees. This in turn has left the fruits undersized and caused them to drop prematurely.
“If the oranges do not grow in size, they fetch no market price,” Mendhe said.
He estimated that orange farmers had suffered losses of more than 90%, with the damage likely to worsen in the coming days. “Oranges from the Ambia bahar (the winter fruiting season) are visible in the market, but there may hardly be any oranges from the summer crop because the fruits from the Mrig bahar are already beginning to fall,” he said.
Mendhe said that without arrangements to ensure an adequate water supply, orange trees could dry up and die. Ramesh Dhoke said the government should provide a fixed compensation amount to all affected farmers to help them meet festival expenses.
Congress leader Sheikh Noor Mohammad said Pandhurna should also be declared drought-affected, pointing out that Vidarbha, the neighbouring region in Maharashtra, had been declared drought-affected.
On October 21, Collector Neeraj Kumar Vashishtha formed a district-level committee to review and settle crop insurance claims for the 2026 kharif season. The committee will assess claims based on crop-cutting experiments, yield data, and estimates of crop damage for notified crops.
The district administration’s press note emphasised giving special attention to chickpea and mustard cultivation in the upcoming season. However, neither the state government nor the district administration has issued any notification declaring Pandhurna drought-affected so far.
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