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Vidarbha Irrigation Well Scheme: Promise, Delays and Dry Wells

Irrigation well in a dry Vidarbha farm showing water stress and irrigation scheme challenges
An irrigation well in a dry farm field shows the promise and limits of well-based irrigation in Vidarbha

In Vidarbha’s parched fields, government-funded irrigation wells were pitched as a lifeline for farmers.


Launched in 2020, Maharashtra’s irrigation well scheme promised to cut farmers’ reliance on erratic monsoon rains and boost crop yields.


The state even set an ambitious target, about 300,000 new wells over two years across drought-prone talukas, under the rural jobs programme, investing some ₹9,000 crore in the effort.


Yet years into the campaign, many promised wells remain uncompleted, and groundwater levels keep falling.




What are irrigation wells?


An irrigation well is simply a drilled or dug hole in the ground that reaches an underground water source.


Farmers sink a borewell or well to tap the water table, then pump that groundwater onto crops. In regions like Vidarbha, where rivers and canals are scarce and rainfall is erratic, wells are the main irrigation source.

In fact, roughly two-thirds of Vidarbha’s irrigated land depends on groundwater from wells: an estimated 5.5 lakh wells and 80,000 tubewells are in use across the region. Such deep tube-wells enabled farmers to keep irrigating during dry spells. But experts warn that this has driven aquifers ever lower. Overuse of wells has led to falling water tables, and many farms must drill ever-deeper or face dry wells in summer. (To curb that, the new scheme caps well depth at 50 feet.)


Irrigation wells are vital farm-level water assets in Vidarbha’s hard-rock terrain. They offer a way to water cotton, soybean and other crops without waiting for canals or rain. In districts like Gadchiroli and Chandrapur, officials note, having an irrigation well often means the difference between harvesting a second crop or remaining limited to a single rainy-season yield.



The irrigation well scheme in Vidarbha


In 2020, the Maharashtra government launched a massive irrigation well drive for rural areas. The water conservation department initially announced the plan as part of a package of schemes for drought-prone regions of Vidarbha (and neighbouring Marathwada).


Under the policy, every small village would get a fixed number of free wells. For example, gram panchayats up to 1,500 people could have five wells. Villages of 3,000 people could get ten, and the largest village councils up to 20 wells.

The intent was to distribute wells “equitably” by linking them to population. Any farmer with at least two hectares of land could apply. Each well cost around ₹3 lakh to dig. 20 local labourers were employed per well under MGNREGA, sharing costs between the state and Centre.


This programme was framed as a rural jobs-plus-irrigation scheme. Officials explicitly cited a twin purpose. To irrigate more land and to generate employment, especially since many migrant workers had returned to villages during the Covid-19 pandemic.


At the launch, government sources stressed that wells would “tackle the water crisis” in Vidarbha and allow farmers to grow two crops a year.


To prevent over-use of groundwater, the scheme limited wells to 50 feet deep and increased subsidies for poor and small farmers. Under earlier ‘Jawahar wells’ programmes (2007–09), eligible small farmers had received well subsidies as part of MGNREGA and grants of up to ₹2.5 lakh. Those successful campaigns had yielded tens of thousands of wells.


Alongside the 2020 policy, Vidarbha also had dedicated targets under an “Accelerated Irrigation Well Programme”. Starting in 2016, Maharashtra’s Planning Department set goals for eastern districts. In September 2016 it approved about 11,614 wells for five Vidarbha districts (Gadchiroli, Bhandara, Chandrapur, Gondia, Nagpur). In early 2019, Wardha district was added with a further 13,000-well goal.


According to official records, most of the first batch were drilled, over 11,400 of 11,614, but the later 13,000 still lagged (by mid-2024, work had started on only 4,180, with 2,992 completed). The government repeatedly extended deadlines.


A June 2026 report noted 276 of 386 wells under progress in Nagpur division were finished and 110 remained pending. Authorities set another final deadline of December 2026 to complete these works.

In sum, the irrigation wells scheme in Vidarbha combined an ambitious new plan (300,000 wells via MGNREGA) with older targeted drives. By 2024, official tallies show 257,961 wells completed under the new personal-beneficiary subsidy programme (with ₹493 crore spent), plus tens of thousands more from earlier campaigns. The intent was clear: create farm-level water assets so that more land could be irrigated.


Impact on Vidarbha’s farming


Where wells have been dug, farmers do see benefits. Access to groundwater allows more cropping. In Gadchiroli and Chandrapur, which often miss the monsoon, an irrigation well can literally be “the difference between two crops and just one”.


According to officials, a new borewell or well can bring marginal farms under irrigation, boosting yield and income. During construction, each well also provided jobs. The scheme required 20 labourers to dig each well, meaning immediate earnings under MGNREGA for rural workers.

Yet these gains have been limited by the scheme’s shortfall. Although targets ran into hundreds of thousands of wells, actual completions have been far fewer to date. In Nagpur division, for example, only a few hundred of the target wells have been done. The rest are still “in limbo” after multiple deadline extensions. Official notes admit that, out of the envisioned 386 new wells under one drive, 276 are completed, and 110 are pending. In practice, that means many villages are still waiting for their promised wells.


Local farmers have mixed feelings. In interviews reported by the Times of India, some said the longer delays had sapped trust. One citrus farmer noted that even some newly drilled wells were showing low yields because “borewells sunk 800 feet deep had turned dry”. (Farmers in Vidarbha have indeed faced over-extraction for decades.)


Others pointed out that where canals and reservoirs exist, wells are less needed. The scheme’s focus was on rain-shadow zones of Vidarbha where irrigation was scarce.


Overall, the scheme’s impact has been uneven. Tens of thousands of farmers did gain new pumps, helping them irrigate a bit more land than before.


A minister noted that better groundwater access could increase cropping intensity, literally allowing “cotton or soybean… to yield higher crops”. But the hoped-for leap to double-cropping across the region has not materialised yet. In key districts like Nagpur and Gadchiroli, less than 10% of land is irrigated, so far too few wells mean these gaps remain.



Challenges and shortfall


Why has the scheme fallen short of its promise? The published reasons are mainly logistical and resource-related. Officials repeatedly cited the need for stricter on-site monitoring and completing procedures at the village level.


Delays have occurred at many stages: sanctioning wells, mobilising labour, and actual drilling. One report pointed to insufficient diesel supply (for pumps), funding delays and technical hurdles in drilling deep wells.

Groundwater itself poses a challenge. Many experts warn that Vidarbha’s aquifers cannot sustain an unlimited number of new wells. Already, more than half a million irrigation wells operate in the region.


Drilling more runs the risk of depleting the water table further. The scheme thus faces a paradox. It offers water to farmers, but that water is finite and falling. Authorities added the 50 ft depth cap precisely to restrain extraction. Critics note that without good rain or surface storage, even completed wells may dry up or deliver less water each year.


Another hurdle is groundwater quality and power supply. Deeper groundwater can have high mineral content or require stronger pumps. Remote villages often lack reliable electricity, making pumping costly or difficult. Some wells built under earlier programs never got hooked to power. These factors blunt the scheme’s effectiveness on the ground.


Finally, policy changes have caused confusion. In mid-2020, the coalition government abruptly halted and then revived the well programme while it redesigned details. Such shifts, or uncertainty over funding and targets, likely slowed work. Despite announcing hundreds of thousands of wells, official reports show actual drilling far below plan.


With the new deadline in sight, officials are pushing to finish existing works and have vowed to complete all pending wells “under any circumstances”.


Farmers in Vidarbha hope that means more of the promised wells will be delivered soon. But beyond the deadline, the bigger question is sustainability. Even if all targeted wells are eventually dug, the underlying water scarcity in Vidarbha remains. Canal and surface projects have progressed slowly, and dependence on wells can strain the groundwater further.



For now, the irrigation well drive stands as a mixed legacy. It underlines how urgent water is to Vidarbha farming, and it has created thousands of new irrigation points. But it has also exposed the limits of using only groundwater for relief.


The story of Vidarbha’s wells is still unfolding, one that will ultimately depend as much on rainfall and river water plans as on pumps and boreholes.


FAQs


Q: How many irrigation wells have been completed in Vidarbha? 

A: By mid-2024 the government reported that roughly 260,000 wells had been drilled under various programmes in Vidarbha and adjoining areas. For example, about 257,961 wells were finished under the new beneficiary scheme by 2024, and tens of thousands more were built in earlier drives. However, this number falls well short of the targets. The state had planned nearly 300,000 wells in two years, plus additional targets (e.g. 24,600 wells in Nagpur division under the accelerated programme). As of June 2026, an official report noted that hundreds of wells in the Nagpur division remained uncompleted.


Q: Why has the Vidarbha irrigation well programme struggled to deliver? 

A: Several factors have slowed the scheme. On the practical side, organising drilling, supplying materials, and coordinating labour in remote villages is complex. Reports cite delays in fund releases and logistical hiccups (like sourcing diesel and pipes). Importantly, groundwater scarcity is a limiting factor. Policy uncertainties have played a role, too. After the scheme was announced, it was briefly paused for reassessment. Overall, while thousands of wells exist today, completing the remaining ones by the extended deadlines has proven challenging.


Q: How will farmers use these new wells? 

A: Farmers can use the well water to irrigate crops like cotton, pulses and cereals outside the monsoon season. Many have sunk tube wells or dug wells near their fields, often using electric or diesel pumps. New wells let farmers add a rabi (winter) crop after the kharif (monsoon) season. Officials expect that even modest access to well water could raise yields by 30–50%, according to survey data.



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About the Author

Pranay Arya is the founder and editor of The News Dirt, an independent journalism platform focused on ground-level reporting across Vidarbha. He has authored 800+ research-based articles covering public issues, regional history, infrastructure, governance, and socio-economic developments, building one of the region’s most extensive digital knowledge archives.

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