The latest survey of drought-hit Bundelkhand has revealed that water scarcity has reached its peak in the region, which is spread over the states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. The survey conducted by political organisation Swaraj Abhiyan has found that marginalised sections of the society face a famine-like crisis, while there have also been reports of a high number of cattle deaths.

The findings of the survey include the following:

  • In the last three months, three-fourths of the villages in Bundelkhand saw no government action to tackle the drinking water crisis.    
  • More than 10 families do not have the means to even two mals a day in 59% of the villages in Uttar Pradesh and 35% of the villages in Madhya Pradesh. 
  • Only 5% of the villages in Madhya Pradesh have MNREGA employment, while this figure is 29% in Uttar Pradesh.  
  • There are only two or fewer working hand pumps in 40% of the villages in Madhya Pradesh. In Uttar Pradesh, 14% villages have two or fewer functional hand pumps, which are the primary source of drinking water in such areas.
  • In 41% of villages in Uttar Pradesh’s Bundelkhand region and 21% in Madhya Pradesh, there were more than 10 reports of cattle deaths resulting from starvation in the last month.  
  • Last week, 56% villages in Uttar Pradesh and 44% in Madhya Pradesh saw a severe shortage of fodder and drinking water for cattle.  
  • Uttar Pradesh has compensated only 6% of its villages in Bundelkhand for crop loss, whereas in Madhya Pradesh, drought-affected farmers received crop compensation in 30% villages.  

The Swaraj Abhiyan survey was conducted across Bundelkhand in seven districts affected in Uttar Pradesh and four districts from Madhya Pradesh. The impact of the drought was assessed in 79 villages from Uttar Pradesh and 43 villages from Madhya Pradesh. In the first round of the study, 109 villages in Uttar Pradesh were surveyed in the November-December 2015 period, while 63 villages in Madhya Pradesh were studied in January 2016, all selected randomly based on the 2011 census.