After the floods, farmers face new hardships

Thousands are struggling to salvage the tattered fragments of their lives – restoring homes destroyed or buried under mud and debris; grappling with scarcity of fodder for cattle that survived; and a local administration bracing for epidemics

MUMBAI: Flood waters are receding after unprecedented rain wrought havoc on the lives of farmers in Marathwada and Western Maharashtra at the end of September. Now, the villagers are facing new challenges.

Beed, India. Sep 28, 2025 - Anita Purale, a resident of Depegaon in Beed district, lost her cotton crop due to heavy rain and floods in the area. Severe rainfall has caused flooding in Maharashtra’s Marathwada region, resulting in two fatalities and the evacuation of over 11,500 residents. Beed, India. Sep 28, 2025. (Photo by Raju Shinde/HT Photo) (Raju Shinde)

Thousands are struggling to salvage the tattered fragments of their lives – restoring homes destroyed or buried under mud and debris; grappling with scarcity of fodder for cattle that survived; and a local administration bracing for epidemics. In a double-whammy, farmers are unable to provide documented proof of their losses to claim compensation.

Dharashiv, Beed, Nanded, Latur in Marathwada, and Solapur in Western Maharashtra are the districts worst affected, with more than 150 villages witnessing crushing losses. Some talukas received over 175% of their annual average rainfall, with more than 65% of crops under cultivation destroyed. In Dharashiv alone, eight people died in the floods; 406 heads of cattle drowned, while 3,206 houses collapsed, impacting 3,149 households. Crops on 4.49 lakh hectares were damaged in 737 villages.

Local district administrations are worried about disease outbreaks as waterlogging persisted for more than ten days. Animal carcasses are also being recovered, heightening concerns of epidemics.

“There is a fear of water contamination in wells and ponds supplying drinking water. A skin disease called Lumpy has broken out among cattle. Although we vaccinated most of the livestock over two years, the risk looms as the disease is transmitted by mosquitoes and ticks. Typically, we isolate infected livestock but, where farmers have lost the roof over their heads, this is a challenge,” said an animal husbandry officer from Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar.

Farmers are struggling to procure fodder as grazing grounds are caked with mud and in some places still under water. In Jalna and Chhatrapati Sambaji Nagar, farmers prepare silage fodder from maize and use it throughout the year. In the remaining six Marathwada districts, farmers are dependent on dry and green fodder, which are now difficult to procure,” said an official from the Beed collectorate.

Farmers have lost cattle in the floods but in the absence of proof of this loss, they cannot claim compensation. “Compensation for the loss of cattle ranges between ₹4,000 and ₹37,500 but we need bodies to be recovered as proof. We know that hundreds of cows and goats were washed away but no carcasses have been recovered. We have sought clarity on this from the state government,” said the official.

The downpour and resultant flooding have destroyed hundreds of acres of farmland that has been stripped of fertile topsoil. “The farmlands will not be able to grow the rabi crop until the fields are cleaned and topsoil replaced. Although the government offers compensation ranging between ₹7,500 and ₹47,000 a hectare, it takes time to spread fresh soil in the fields,” said P R Deshmukh, joint agriculture director, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar division.

Officials from the divisional commissioner’s office said 65% of the crops under cultivation on 48.31 lakh hectares have been damaged. “We give ex-gratia ranging between ₹8,500 and ₹22,500 a hectare, which is not even 20% of the actual losses,” he added.