Malpan villagers are involved in dairy farming for the past many decades and the youth are also willing to take up this profession. However, the vital ingredient for dairy farming is water, a scarcity the villagers have been facing for the past 35 years.
Some villagers have stopped dairy farming because the cattle do not get regular water and also some cattle were falling ill.
Malpan is a large village, divided into three waddas. And almost 80 per cent villagers depend on dairy farming. However, the village is getting supply for only two hours a day, which, they say, in enough to fill just two barrels. Some of them buy water for dairy farming from other villages but all of them cannot afford to buy it because of their poverty, say villagers.
“In past 35 years, several times we have informed every panch member, and also the local MLA but they have only given us promises not water,” say villagers.
“I am buying green fodder and water for my dairy farm from other villages for past many years. I have my own land in the village but I cannot grow green fodder in that land because there is no water. Buying green fodder and water every day from other villages is not possible for us now, we are facing losses. At the end of the day nothing is left with us,” says Bomu Kale, a villager and milk farmer.
“I have stopped dairy farming because cows are not getting water properly. And many of my cows were dead because of lack of water,” says another villager Bhairu Shelke.
“Water supply department has built a water tank in our village, but water is not being supplied to that tank regularly. Besides this, every time the water pump is getting burnt and water pipe line gets crack. We have complained several times to the water supply department office, but no one is taking action,” says Vithu Kharwat, a villager.
“For the past 35 years, we are facing water shortage problem in our village. We are getting tap water only for two hours in a day. And that is not sufficient for us. There is no other water source, no river and well in our village.” says Mali Yemkar, a village woman.
We are not getting proper water for bath and our dairy cattle are dying because of water. They have to be kept clean every day, otherwise they fall ill, says another village woman Chimni Yemkar.
Our village youth are ready to enter in dairy farming and will increase milk production in Goa, but for dairy farming water is important, without water we cannot sustain dairy farming and we are facing water shortage problem for past many years. So we demand the Government to solve our water shortage problem,” says a village youth Santosh Yemkar, who is seeing his family dairy farming past two years.
