‘Village For Sale, Price: Water’ — Solapur’s Tulshi Residents Protest Drinking Water Crisis

Solapur, 29th September 2026: Fed up with years of water scarcity, residents of Tulshi village in Madha taluka have put up boards declaring that the village is “for sale”, in a bid to draw the state government’s attention to their drinking water crisis.

The boards state that the village can be purchased by paying only the “price of water”. With agricultural land and wells drying up, villagers said they have been forced to depend almost entirely on water tankers.

The unusual protest in Tulshi has now drawn attention across the state. Villagers said several government schemes and assurances over the years have failed to provide a permanent solution to their water woes. They said the incomplete work of the Sina-Madha Lift Irrigation Scheme has been a major problem for the village for several years. Although canals of the project pass near the village, Tulshi has not benefited from the scheme, they claimed.

“We face a drinking water shortage every year. Although the canals of the Sina-Madha scheme pass near our village, we do not get its benefit. By putting up a board saying ‘Village for sale, price: water’, we are trying to draw the government’s attention to our problems,” said Tulshi sarpanch Sharad More.

Villagers began an indefinite hunger strike on September 14 to press for a solution to the water shortage. They later staged a ‘Thaalinaad’ protest outside the Madha tehsil office. The villagers have warned that they will intensify their agitation if the issue remains unresolved.

More said work related to Tulshi under the Sina-Madha Lift Irrigation Scheme has remained incomplete for the past *26 years*. Completion of the work could provide a permanent solution to the village’s water crisis, he said.

The prolonged water crisis has also affected the social and economic life of the village, according to residents.

“Most people in Tulshi depend on agriculture and animal husbandry, and the water shortage has severely affected their livelihoods. Around 350 men in the village are unmarried because families are unwilling to marry their daughters into the village due to the water crisis,” More said.

Agriculture Minister Dattatray Bharne said the state government had taken note of Tulshi’s problems and would provide all possible assistance to the village.