<strong>Media grads’ films draw attention to drought-hit villages </strong>

Mumbai: A group of fresh communication graduates have undertaken a project to help the drought-hit villages of the State help themselves by educating them through the medium of documentary films.

The pilot project, named Uprooted, consists of nine fresh graduates who have been documenting stories from districts like Yavatmal, Beed that have seen a steep rise in farmer suicides triggered by the drought.

One of the villages the group has been working with is Malwadi, near Lonavala. According to the group members, this village experiences water shortage during summer, as it has no permanent source of water supply.

“Despite receiving average rainfall of almost 4,000 mm during the monsoon, the village experiences water shortage in April and May, as there is no permanent source of water except the tanks that accumulate rainwater. There are five tanks in the village but they have developed cracks over the years, which have been left unattended,” said Talib Chitalwala, 21, a co-founder of the initiative.

The group members say through film-making, they can connect with, and draw the attention of, a larger audience to the issues being faced by the villages and procure a response from them, which could bring the drought-affected people some relief. They also said the villagers have, in the past, felt motivated after watching success stories of other villages documented in the films.

Their current initiative in Malwadi village includes fixing water tanks, finding an alternate means of income, and planting trees to reduce soil erosion. The group members claim that during summer, the water tanks dry up and the availability of water drops to half.

“During this time, the women of the village walk for one-and-a-half hours to Visapur fort to fill water, and a family of four is able to secure just two to three vessels for their use,” Mr. Chitalwala said. While the village once had a farming population, most of them have deserted farming over the years, opting to be daily-wagers in Lonavala.

In order to prevent soil erosion, the group recently planted 100 saplings of jamun, guava and mango, which they say will also provide an alternate means of income for the villagers, “when the trees start bearing fruits.” The group is also planning to facilitate the adoption of villages, to lend an urban perspective to issues that villages find difficult to tackle.