Dhondalgaon became tanker-free from 2016 onward after the NAAM foundation adopted it (R: File photo used for representational purposes)
NAAM Foundation, set up by Patekar and fellow Marathi actor Makarand Anaspure , adopted Dhondalgaon village in Vaijapur tehsil in 2016. “There were 12 barrages and they were completely filled with silt, so no water stopped there. The villagers also contributed to the work and we desilted a stretch of 4.5 km. It created storage capacity of nearly 20 crore litres of water,” he said. “Almost 70% of farmers here now grow two crops in a year; some even grow three crops. The village has been tanker-free from 2016 to this day, except for a few months in 2018 when there was a severe drought,” he said.
Rahul Sable, a local activist, said the availability of water also boosted dairy farming, PTI reported.
CHHATRAPATI SAMBHAJINAGAR: As film lovers across India mourned the death of veteran actor Nana Patekar on Thursday, a village in central Maharashtra remembered how his support helped it become “tanker-free” by funding a water conservation project a decade ago. The village, located 57km from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar city, would require water supplied through tankers every year as the monsoon ended and Diwali approached, river expert Anand Asolkar said. The project changed the village’s economy, Asolkar said. I take pride in saying that not a single farmer suicide has taken place here since this work was completed,” Sable said.
“Nana adopted our village, and the way people looked at our village changed. Politicians began to give priority to the development of our village.