The water crisis in rural Maharashtra has pushed residents of Tulshi village in Solapur district to put up “Village For Sale” banners, saying they would accept water instead of money as the price. Around 7,000 villagers in Madha tehsil have staged the protest to draw the government's attention to the shortage, which they say has persisted for decades despite repeated assurances and plans.
ALSO READ: Bullet Train: First Steel Bridge Installed In Maharashtra After Being Transported Over 1,000 km
Tulshi sarpanch Sharad More told PTI that the village faces water shortages every year despite the canals of the Sina-Madha scheme passing close by. “By putting up the board saying ‘Village for Sale, Price: Water', we are trying to draw the government's attention to our plight,” he said.
Also Read | Layoffs Are Rising In Tech, But These Skills Are Helping People Unlock Better Pay
Despite facing severe dehydration, local villagers took their protest further on September 14 by launching a hunger strike for water rights. They later gathered outside the Madha tehsil office to bang utensils (thali bajao), a traditional symbolic tactic to draw urgent attention from state officials. Protesters have warned that they will escalate their agitation if the administration fails to provide a concrete resolution.
STORY | 'Village for Sale': Parched hamlet's desperate plea amid water crisis in Maharashtra Desperate for water and watching their farms and wells dry up, residents of a village in Maharashtra's Solapur district have put up a striking banner declaring "Village for Sale", pricing their parched hamlet solely in water. This unusual form of protest by 7,000 residents of Tulshi in Madha tehsil follows decades of government plans and assurances that have not materialised. READ: https://t.co/GbaPwOHScb VIDEO: #Solapur #MaharashtraDrought #MaharashtraNews (Full video available on PTI Videos - https://t.co/bIyFWTfmBd)
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) September 29, 2026
According to More, completing a critical 800-metre stretch of excavation work near the seventh and eighth outlets of the Sina-Madha canal scheme could permanently resolve Tulshi's water crisis. Despite its potential to end the hamlet's chronic shortages, this minor section of the project has remained stalled and incomplete for 26 years.
Tulshi residents report, as per PTI, that inadequate monsoon rainfall has left them entirely dependent on water tankers. While tap connections were installed under the Jal Jeevan Mission, locals say the scheme is useless because the primary water source itself has completely dried up.
Pointing to the deep social toll of the drought, More highlighted that roughly 350 men in Tulshi remain unmarried because prospective brides' families are unwilling to send them to a water-starved hamlet.
ALSO READ: 15-Year Wait Ends: Mumbai's Zaoba Wadi Set For Luxury Residential Tower? What We Know
In 2024, the Krishna Valley Development Corporation approved water allocation from the Sina-Madha scheme for Tulshi and nearby drought-prone villages. Despite sanctioning Rs 90 lakh for 2025–26 to construct a closed pipeline to Tulshi's Bhavani percolation tank, aimed at resolving drinking and irrigation needs, local leader More claims no concrete progress has been made on the ground.
According to local residents, replenishing the village's 14 depleted wells and ponds would offer immediate relief to both agricultural and domestic water needs.
Essential Business Intelligence, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice, Daily Fuel, Gold and Silver Prices and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
