Pune, Maharashtra:
The battle for water is intense at Undri village near Pune.
"We just get one tanker and it gets over in a few minutes; we wait hopelessly for the next tanker," says a local.
With no rains in sight, villagers are struggling with a 20 per cent water cut.
As one travels deeper into the sugar belt, among the most prosperous regions in the state, more signs of desperation are available to one's eyes.
Farmers like Pandurang Pawar have switched to growing bajra. The sugarcane crop which needs a lot of water, is being seen as a risk.
Pune's agricultural university is already appealing to farmers not to grow sugarcane this year.
"We rely completely on rain water for our farms, there is no other source of water available to us besides that," says Pandurang Pawar.
Rukmani Shinde, who grows vegetables on her two acre plot is worst hit.
For small farmers like her who live on the edge, a single failed crop means they have to go to the moneylender.
"We will be doomed if rains take too long," Rukmani says.
So, as is evident, the anxiety in the land of sugar barons, which gets the giant's share of state funding is a sign of how much worse it is in other parts of the state.