Nearly half the residents of Ambesavali village in Maharashtra's Beed district have migrated in search of work, according to the deputy sarpanch, as drought leaves farmers and agricultural labourers without income.
The crisis comes just 11 months after devastating floods destroyed farmland and standing crops across the Marathwada region in October 2025.
Maharashtra has declared drought in 265 of its 364 talukas, or nearly 73%, triggering relief measures as farmers report failed crops, dry tube wells and depleted irrigation reserves.
Farmers say the current drought could be worse than those of 2013–14 and 2015–16, with some facing losses of up to Rs 2.5 lakh in cultivation costs.
Water tankers are supplying 94 villages across four districts during the monsoon months, raising concerns over drinking water shortages, mounting debt and further migration.
Nearly half the residents of Ambesavali village in Maharashtra's Beed district have left in search of work after prolonged dry weather devastated crops and left agricultural labourers without an income, according to the village's deputy sarpanch.
The migration comes less than a year after floods destroyed farmland and standing crops across the state's Marathwada region, leaving farmers struggling to recover from one disaster before facing another.
Dhananjay Gundekar, a farmer and deputy sarpanch of Ambesavali, said villagers had travelled to the southern states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to find employment. “There is no agricultural work left and no money to survive, especially for those who work as farm labourers,” he said. Gundekar estimated that almost 50 per cent of the village's residents, including farmers and agricultural workers, had migrated.
He said he would have joined them had it not been for his responsibilities as deputy sarpanch. “I would have looked for a job paying Rs 10,000-15,000 a month. The situation is about to get worse,” he added.
On September 26, the Maharashtra government declared drought in 265 of the state’s 364 talukas, or administrative subdivisions, accounting for over 70 per cent of the total.
The declaration triggered relief measures, including provisions relating to agricultural loan repayments and the deployment of water tankers. Farmers across Marathwada, Vidarbha and parts of western Maharashtra say the drought has compounded losses suffered during the floods of October 2025.
Some fear the current conditions could be worse than the droughts of 2013-14 and 2015-16.
In October 2025, Ganesh Ghodake, a farmer from Kurla village in Beed, watched floodwaters wash away six acres of his farmland. Thousands of farmers across Marathwada suffered extensive damage to standing crops during the floods. Many demanded that the government declare the situation a “wet drought” and provide financial assistance comparable to drought relief.
Eleven months later, Ghodake is facing another crop failure, this time because of insufficient rainfall. He said the cotton plants on his farm had not even reached knee height.
“The village has not received any substantial rain this monsoon season. The only rain we received was for 10-15 minutes at a time, with long gaps between showers,” he told Down To Earth (DTE).
Ghodake sowed his cotton crop on July 8, 2026. By September, he said, the plants should have grown to about 4.5 feet (about 1.4 metres). Instead, their growth has been severely stunted.
Several villages in the region have reported going nearly 40-50 days without significant rainfall. Ghodake said some farmers had not even seen their seeds germinate. “The rains were delayed by a month, and whenever showers came, they were light and not enough to penetrate deep into the soil and retain moisture,” he told DTE.
Suresh Tipale, a farmer from Paragon village, expects to lose Rs 10,000 (£85) per acre across his four-acre farm. “The tube wells have run dry, and no water conservation structure has retained any water,” he said.
Official figures dated September 11 indicate that 54 of 76 small irrigation projects covered by the data had less than 25 per cent of their water storage capacity remaining. Another 13 had storage levels between 25 per cent and 50 per cent.
In Beed, 14 of 17 such projects had less than 25 per cent storage, while neighbouring Dharashiv district recorded similarly low levels in 15 of its 17 projects. Tipale said the current drought appeared worse than the one farmers experienced in 2013-14.
“The drought repeated in 2015-16, but it was still manageable. We do not know how we will survive this drought,” he said.
For Mangesh Karpe, a 32-year-old farmer from Kumshi village, the prospect of a failed cotton harvest has raised concerns about recovering his investment. Karpe said he had cultivated cotton across 10 acres but did not expect to harvest any of it.
“I would have earned Rs 10 lakh from an estimated produce of 100 quintals. But instead, I have already lost Rs 2.5 lakh that I spent on sowing and other production costs,” he said. One quintal is equivalent to 100 kilogrammes.
Farmers say another failed agricultural season will increase their debts, making it harder to recover from the financial losses caused by last year's floods.
The shortage has also affected drinking water supplies, with villages relying on tankers during months when they would normally expect monsoon rainfall.
Karpe said residents had never previously seen water tankers supplying their villages in August and September. “How do we survive, and how do we keep our cattle alive without food, fodder and water?” he asked.
A total of 171 government-operated and private water tankers were supplying water to 94 villages across four districts.
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar had 70 tankers serving 48 villages, while Beed had another 70 supplying 27 villages. Jalna had 22 tankers serving 12 villages, and Dharashiv had nine supplying seven villages.