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TOI : PUNE: Call it superstition or desperation. With the rain playing hide and seek, villages in western Maharashtra are looking for strange ways to “please the rain gods” by taking out processions of donkeys and parading naked kids. Amid all this, anti-superstition activists are blaming the government for failing to address the issue effectively.

“It is mid-July and every year by this time, sowing of kharif is over. But this year, we are still waiting for the rain. Now, it’s too late and a good rain won’t help much,” says Raju Chougule, a farmer from Shirol in Kolhapur.

Villagers in Shirol taluka took out a procession of donkeys. The hapless beasts were painted with colours and paraded in the entire village. The womenfolk performed ‘puja’ of the donkeys and while praying for rain.

In some villages kids are being paraded naked with neem leaves tied around their waist. “There is also a tradition of taking out a procession of the village deity and dispel evil out of the village. In many villages, temples is filled with water,” says M.B. Jadhav of Sangli. Such practices are gaining moment in the drought-affected areas of Sangli, Satara and Solapur.

“We desperately need the rain. If the monsoon showers don’t hit the region within eight days, the situation will worsen and it would be difficult for us to survive. The government is taking its own time to announce drought,” says Satara farmer Mohan Patil.

Narendra Dabholkar of the Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (Committee for eradication of blind faith) blamed the state government. “Farmers can’t be blamed for the rituals they are performing. It is the responsibility of the government to make provisions to face adversities. The state has faced similar situations before. It has discussed ways to combat drought, but all that remained on paper,” he said.
“I hope the government plans long-term water…More