-By Biplab Ketan Paul

Sami Taluka in Patan district of Gujarat witnesses a nature’s bizarre phenomenon. Though it is considered to be a semi-arid region, strangely, large patches of land here remain submerged in water. However, this water is of no use for farming let alone drinking due to its salinity. The water, however, becomes salty due to salinity in land which does not allow it to percolate. Farmers here can’t take-up a monsoon crop and have to depend on the winter crop unreasonably.

In Sami, only the rich farmers have the control on groundwater due to its high cost. The farmers lend water to smaller farmers with 1/3^rd or more of the crop as payment. The farmers as a result get burdened with debt or migrate to cities for miscellaneous labour work. All of this, if unchecked, would reduce perfectly cultivable land into barren wasteland. Already in India…