Sugar mills in Maharashtra have decided to reach out to the distressed drought-struck Marathwada region. Instead of resorting to piecemeal solutions, the millers have come up with what they describe could be a permanent solution to the water crisis in the state — help provide funds to desilt water canals, lakes and river to ensure that more water can be stored for later use.
At a meet held at the Vasantdada Sugar Institute (VSI) in Pune on Thursday, NCP leader Sharad Pawar, who is also the chairman of the institute, said mills in the state shall contribute `10 lakh towards the chief minister’s relief fund, which will be used to provide equipment that could be used for desiltingp and widening canals, ponds, lakes and rivers.
In addition, factories will also contribute another `15 lakh for such work in their own region, he said, adding that these funds shall be used from the share capital of the mills and the state government should ensure that no audit reports will be conducted for such contributions.
“As per calculations, each machine can work for 10 hours on a daily basis and for 25 days a month, this would result in desilting around 12.5 km. The rent per hour comes up to `1,800 per hour which adds up to `18,000 per day and `4.5 lakh per month. We have two months in hand — May and June — before monsoon starts and therefore the rent of such machines will add up to `10 lakh for two months,” Pawar explained, adding that each factory should contribute towards the use of one machine in Marathwada region through the CM fund, which will then be routed to the divisional commissioners who may take a call on which areas the funds could be used. “We are ready to help but do not issue notices to sugar factories later for such contributions,” he said.
Private millers will also contribute towards this effort which will help mitigate the drought crisis to a great extent, he added.