Jitendra Maid

Medha Kale

English Translation

Siddhita Sonavane

Editor

large_01-20211212_103644-JM-The-times-of-untimely-rain.jpg

medium_01-20211212_103644-JM-The-times-of-untimely-rain.jpg

small_01-20211212_103644-JM-The-times-of-untimely-rain.jpg

thumbnail_01-20211212_103644-JM-The-times-of-untimely-rain.jpg

01-20211212_103644-JM-The-times-of-untimely-rain.jpg

In just one night, Taibai Ghule estimates she lost an income of one lakh rupees. The 42-year-old was in Bhalawani, nine kilometres from her village when a heavy downpour began. “It started raining at five in the evening and increased after midnight,” the sheep and goat herder said. The freshly ploughed field was soon wet and muddy, and her flock of roughly 200 animals were finding it difficult to move around in the sticky mud. “We sat in the mud [all night] and were drenched in that deluge with our animals,” she said, recalling the heavy rains of December 2021 in Ahmadnagar (also spelt Ahmednagar) district of Maharashtra. “We have seen heavy rain, but we have not suffered such losses. This is the first time,” says Taibai, a shepherd from Dhavalpuri village who lost eight sheep and a female goat. “All we wanted was to save them.”  The rain was particularly heavy in Satara with close to 100 mm rainfall recorded on December 2, 2021, in most of its talukas.

“The rain was so much that we could not think of anything. Some sheep died later as they could not bear the cold,” says Gangaram Dhebe, a 40-year-old shepherd also from Dhavalpuri. “They had lost all strength.”He was 13 kms away in Bhandgaon when the rain started. Of his 200 animals, Gangaram lost 13 that night: seven full-grown sheep, five kids and one female goat. He spent Rs. 5,000 on medicines and injections from local chemists on the sick animals, but nothing worked. Taibai and Gangaram Dhebe belong to the Dhangar community, listed as a Nomadic Tribe in Maharashtra. They live largely in and around Ahmadnagar district which has a large <a href="https://mahasdb.maharashtra.gov.in/SDB_Reports/Maharashtra/PDF/2007_Maharashtra_LC_Quick_Final_Category_Livestock.pdf">population</a> of sheep.  In summer, when water and fodder become scarce, herders like Taibai migrate to Dahanu and Bhiwandi in Palghar and Thane district of north Konkan region. They stay on the road for six months, returning only after the onset of the monsoon; the small animals cannot withstand the Konkan region’s heavy rains. “We really don’t know how it rained like this,” she says. “He [the rain] is the Meghraja [king of the clouds].”

The herder’s eyes well up as she recalls the event: “We have borne a huge loss, quite huge. If we find some other occupation, we will leave this.”Tukaram Kokare lost nine full-grown sheep and four lambs from his herd of 90. He too says, “It was a huge loss.” He says it costs Rs. 12,000 to 13,000 to buy one sheep. “We have lost nine. So, you can imagine how much loss we have suffered,” says the 40-year-old Dhangar shepherd. Did they draft a panchanama [investigation report]? “How could we?” says a helpless Tukaram. “We did not have anything to protect us and none of the farmers were around. The sheep started running. We could not leave them and had no time to report what had happened.” He estimated that in Bhalwani alone 300 sheep died. Maharashtra ranks seventh in the country with the highest number of sheep – <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/resource/20th-livestock-census-2019-all-india-report/">2.7 million</a>. Speaking about the loss of livestock in Maan, Khatav and Dahiwadi regions of Satara and government apathy, Shambhuraje Shendge Patil, a shepherd and wrestler from Phaltan says, “If a man dressed in a formal suit visits a government office, the officer promises to finish his work in an hour’s time. But that same officer looks at my fellow Dhangar dressed in their shepherding clothes and tells him to return in two days.”

“We could not even take pictures of the sheep that died. We have phones but they are not charged. We can charge them only when we are in a village or a settlement,” Taibai says. Taibai and her animals are temporarily housed in a field cordoned off with ropes tied in sheepshank knots. Her flock of sheep and goats are resting and grazing. “We have to walk far to feed our livestock,” she says, pointing to the troop behind. Gangaram walks from Dhavalpuri to Dehu in Pune district in search of fodder for his sheep. It takes him 15 days to reach the flatlands of Dehu. “We get beaten up if we breach people’s fields [for fodder]. We have no option but to take the beating,” he says. With local goons harassing them, “farmers are our only support,” he says. “In general, shepherds are a resilient group and are capable of withstanding shocks, but the unexpected rains of December 1 and 2 left them shattered as several sheep died,” says Dr. Nitya Ghotge, a veterinarian.

She says shepherds had to deal with multiple stresses of protecting themselves and their families. “Small children, their possessions including food supplies, firewood and mobile phones and their animals, especially weak and young animals,” were all at risk, adds Ghotge who is director of Anthra, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) working with pastoral and farming communities.Shepherds need critical support in filing panchanamas, receiving information on climate shocks, on disease, vaccines and timely veterinary support. “It is hoped that the government, while drafting its climate change and livestock policies, takes account of this,&quot; Ghotge says. Tukaram suggests building a common shed in Dhavalpuri can help shepherds like him save their animals. “It should be built in such a way that the sheep are dry and safe. They will not feel cold inside,” says the experienced shepherd. Till then, Taibai, Gangaram and Tukaram continue to walk their flock in search of fodder, water and shelter. They say it is wise to keep moving and not wait for any help or relief, either from the state or from rain.

The times of untimely rain

’نہ بارش کا بھروسہ ہے، نہ سرکار سے کوئی امید‘

காலம் தவறிய மழைகளின் காலம்

ਜਦੋਂ ਬੇਵਕਤੀ ਮੀਂਹ ਨੇ ਘੇਰਾ ਘੱਤਿਆ

ଅସମୟରେ ବର୍ଷା ହେବାର ସମୟଗୁଡ଼ିକ

സമയം തെറ്റിയ മഴയുടെ കാലം

ಅಕಾಲಿಕ ಮಳೆ ತಂದೊಡ್ಡುವ ಸಂಕಷ್ಟಗಳು

‘न बारिश का भरोसा है, न सरकार से कोई उम्मीद’

કમોસમી વરસાદની મોસમ

बेबखत बरसात के मार

‘मौसम आउर सरकार, सबसे गइनी हार’

অকালবর্ষণে ছারখার রাখালিয়াদের চরৈবেতি জীবন

আবতৰীয়া বৰষুণত ক্ষতিগ্ৰস্ত পশুপালক

अवकाळीचा काळ आला

Dhavalpuri

At present, we can only accept donations in Indian rupees by Indian citizens. All donations made to the CounterMedia Trust are eligible for exemption under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Here is a copy of our exemption certificate.


India is bigger than New Delhi. And people need to know more about the rest of this vast nation.


Younger, media-saturated generations are growing up knowing little about their country, but a lot about the elites of a few metros and towns. For a narrowly-owned, commercially-driven media, the dumbing down of a nation is part of standard operating procedure. The last available data of the Centre for Media Studies (CMS, Delhi) show us that reports from New Delhi account for 66 per cent of news on the front pages of major dailies. The CMS data also found that just about 0.24 per cent of front page news came out of rural India. The TV channels are not much better.PARI exists to change that.We are a non-profit organisation. We publish under creative commons, and do not charge readers a subscription fee or put-up advertisements. Nothing is behind a paywall and we are completely free-to-access by anyone. We guard our independence and receive no direct grants from governments and corporations, nor any funding that could dictate our content. So, we are dependent on volunteer labour, donations from individuals, foundations and institutions that see value in independent and free media.PARI is changing the way Indian journalism reports and documents the rural.India is more than the elite of a few metros and towns. We report on rural lives and livelihoods, languages, communities, migrants and more. We need your help to pull off this most ambitious of Indian journalistic endeavours. The scale of this effort costs money. Donate generously - and spread the word about PARI.&nbsp;

Donate FAQs


Let’s get you acquainted

Welcome to PARI

All our content is, and will forever be free to consume. If you enjoy our work, you can support us by becoming a volunteer or by donating to help fund our work.

Want to republish this article? Please write to <a href="mailto:zahra@ruralindiaonline.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">zahra@ruralindiaonline.org</a> with a cc to <a href="mailto:namita@ruralindiaonline.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">namita@ruralindiaonline.org</a>

The times of untimely rain

Heavy and unseasonal rains result in huge losses for pastoralists. Thunder and lightning in parts of Maharashtra in early March 2023 brought back memories of the deluge in Ahmadnagar district a few years ago

Related stories

A rain-scented walk in Sivagangai

Living on ravaged land

Biswas and the bamboos on his bike

Recycling energy, Godda style

Bhadels of Goa

Pookadai: still throbbing with morning life

Koli Kadlas

Malnourishment high among children of migrants: study

Wheels of the rural Indian West

Living Under a Red Cloud in Bellary

Vedla – earrings of the Maher community

Dreaming of water, drowning in debt

Kali: the dancer and his dreams

Farmer's diet worse than a convict's

In Yavatmal, life goes on

Suicides are about the living, not the dead

Death of a carpenter

Hoisa Shigmo!

Women farmers: weaving a life in Anantapur

Defiant in Dhinkia

Spice and all that's nice

Kerala's Green Army

The ‘jugaad’ not-a-mobile

Health as someone else's wealth

Calibrating in a Kudumbashree assembly unit