Residents of Tulshi village in Maharashtra have put up a banner declaring the village “for sale”, with water listed as the price, in a symbolic protest over a prolonged water shortage. The crisis has left farms and wells dry, forcing the village to depend completely on water tankers.
The village, which has around 7,000 residents in Solapur district, has been facing the problem for years despite repeated government plans and assurances. Villagers said incomplete excavation under the Sina-Madha Lift Irrigation Scheme has kept Tulshi without adequate water for several years, even though the project’s canals run near the village.
“Water scarcity affects the village every year. Although the canals of the Sina-Madha scheme pass close to us, we do not receive its benefits. By putting up the board reading ‘Village for Sale, Price: Water’, we want to bring the government’s attention to our situation,” Tulshi sarpanch Sharad More said.
The villagers launched a hunger strike on September 14 seeking a solution to the water crisis. They later staged a ‘thali-naad’ protest outside the Madha tehsil office, beating utensils to highlight their demand. They have warned that the agitation will intensify if their demands are not addressed.
More had earlier said that about 800 metres of excavation work near the seventh and eighth outlets of the Sina-Madha scheme has remained unfinished for 26 years. According to him, completing the work could provide a permanent solution to Tulshi’s water shortage.
Residents said inadequate rainfall during this monsoon has made the situation even worse. Although work has been undertaken under the Jal Jeevan Mission, villagers said it has failed to provide relief because the local water source has dried up.
The shortage has also severely affected livelihoods, as most families in Tulshi depend on farming and animal husbandry. More claimed that around 350 men in the village remain unmarried because families are unwilling to give them their daughters due to the water crisis.
In 2024, the Krishna Valley Development Corporation reportedly approved the supply of water from the Sina-Madha Lift Irrigation Scheme to Tulshi and several other drought-prone villages, including Bavi, Paritewadi, Kurdu, Pimpalkhunte, Ambad and Anjangaon. Directions were also issued for submitting the third revised administrative approval for the project.
In January this year, authorities announced that Rs 90 lakh had been sanctioned for 2025-26 to provide water through a closed pipeline from the Sina-Madha scheme to Tulshi’s Bhavani percolation tank. The proposed work was expected to address the village’s drinking water and irrigation requirements.
However, More said villagers had only been informed that some DPDC funds had been sanctioned for the closed pipeline, with no concrete work carried out so far. Residents said Tulshi has 14 ponds and wells that have completely dried up, and filling these water bodies could substantially reduce the shortage of drinking and irrigation water.
The villagers said a proposal and cost estimate for the work had already been prepared. They added that they had repeatedly approached the administration and staged protests, but a lasting solution had still not been found.
“The ‘Village for Sale’ board is a symbolic protest meant to draw the government’s attention to our water crisis. Our agitation will continue until we get water,” More said.
Speaking to reporters in Pune, state Agriculture Minister Dattatray Bharne acknowledged the problem and assured that the state government would extend all possible assistance to Tulshi.
The protest reflects the villagers’ demand for a permanent water supply after years of delays, dependence on tankers and repeated assurances that have failed to resolve the crisis.
