courtesy THE HINDU  NEWS PAPER,  TELANAGANA

Updated: April 30, 2016 16:13 IST

In the present scenario already the cities are overcrowded and lacking basic civic amenities.  If the same exodus continues, imagine the plight of our cities. One of the reasons is mainly WATER and nothing else. 

something has to be done seriously by all concerned, particularly governments. The problem is not of today's , it has been long neglected and the result is being felt now.

Lot of discussion & pressure have to be built on the respective governments on the social media front and at the same time NGO s & community groups have to take the lead in this regard.

The inevitable journey out of their villages

Leaving behind their young and aged, scores of villagers from Nancherla are migrating to Mumbai in search of work

The woman sobs, tears running down her cheeks, hugging her three-year-old son and not letting go of him. The young tribal woman is about to board the 1.30 p.m. Mumbai-bound RTC bus from this remote hamlet in Kulkacharla mandal in Ranga Reddy district for a 14-hour journey.

Lugging rations and a few belongings, she, her husband and two daughters are migrating to Mumbai for work, leaving behind the boy in the care of her in-laws. Everyone is in tears in the emotionally-fraught moment as she and her husband don’t want to leave behind the toddler, but have no choice if they want to make ends meet.

The emotional parting drama is not limited to this family as elsewhere in the bus bay, similar scenes are played out with different characters. And it is a regular occurrence at the nondescript bus station, just 120 km away from Hyderabad, the capital of Telangana.

The harsh drought and lack of work is forcing many villagers in these parts of Telangana to migrate in search of work, leaving behind their dear ones. The parting scenes are sure to move anyone, but the locals have become used to it.

“You come here tomorrow at the same time and you can see more such scenes, only the persons change,” says Santosh, a student, who has come to see off his relative Venkataiah, who migrated to Mumbai about three decades ago. The sexagenarian from Anvada of neighbouring Mahabubnagar district, Venkataiah moved to Mumbai in search of a livelihood, forced out of his native place by an earlier drought.

“Nothing has changed over the decades. I feel things have only worsened , with this summer taking the cake for hitting people the hardest,” he says. “Scores of people from Mahabubnagar and nearby mandals of Ganded, Kulkacharla and Parigi in Ranga Reddy district are migrating, year after year,” says Venkataiah with regret.

He says he planned to stay back, but the parched fields forced him to change his mind.

“It is painful to leave behind your loved ones and family just because there is no water. But, there is no other option and leaving what little land we have is the saddest part,” he sighs.

Making home in a faraway land

The scorching heat is uprooting families by the dozens. Ravi Naik from Gondyal of Anvada mandal in Mahabubnagar is another example. He tried to raise a crop on the 1.5-acre agricultural land inherited from his late father.

“Forget about raising a crop, I am not able to feed the four cattle that I have,” the youngster says, wiping away tears. He drilled seven bore-wells in the 1.5 acres of land to a depth of about 300 feet. Not one of them struck water.

“Drilling each bore-well cost me Rs. 30,000 and seven of them pushed me to bankruptcy. Working in Mumbai, I am hoping against hope that I will be able to send some money to my aged mother,” he says.