Mumbai, Sept. 21 -- With the water stock in dams and reservoirs across Marathwada falling to the lowest level in the state, at 46.19%, eight districts in the region are reeling under severe drought even as tanker deployment has nearly doubled in the past two weeks. Prolonged dry spells during the monsoon have hit Marathwada the hardest, with rainfall received till September 20 at just 71% of the seasonal average compared to 85% across the state. The rainfall deficit and dry spells have stressed cash crops such as soybean and cotton, alongside staples like maize, tur (pigeon pea) and moong, officials said. Deployment of tankers in the region for drinking water also shot up from 101 on September 6 to 196 this week, with Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (96) accounting for the largest deployment, followed by Beed (70). Sandipkumar Deshmukh Baradkar, a farm activist from Nanded, said that while all eight districts were badly affected, Latur was the worst hit. "Two big dams - Upper Painganga and Jayakwadi - are 70% and 85% full, respectively, because of rainfall in other regions, which has solved the drinking-water problem in certain parts of Marathwada. But water stock in small and medium dams that depend on local rainfall is very poor. Marathwada produces 55% of India's turmeric, and with poor rainfall, production is going to be hit badly," he said. Baradkar said that merely declaring a drought would not help, as the compensation offered by the government was meagre. "The state government should reconstitute the Marathwada Statutory Development Board, which has been defunct since 2020, so that the backlog of irrigation for 600,000 hectares can be cleared. If the government really wants to make the region drought-free permanently, it should also clear the backlog of about Rs.1 lakh crore in other sectors, including roads, education and health," the farm activist said. According to data compiled by the agriculture department, as on September 20, the area under sowing in Marathwada has dropped to 137 lakh hectares from its five-year average of 144 lakh hectares. The opposition has demanded that a special legislative session be convened to discuss the drought-like situation, along the lines of steps taken by the Karnataka government. "Farmers have not received compensation for crop losses from the previous monsoon, and only 1.2 million of the 5.6 million beneficiary farmers have received the crop-loan waiver announced this year. Other states like Karnataka and Telangana have already started taking precautionary measures to minimise farmers' suffering. The Maharashtra government should take such steps immediately," said NCP (SP) leader Rohit Pawar. State agriculture minister Datta Bharane said the government had begun taking necessary steps to provide relief to farmers....