The Bombay High Court on Thursday asked state government authorities to ensure that “human life and cattle” in 300 villages in the tribal Melghat area of Amravati district in the Vidarbha region do not go “thirsty” amid soaring summer temperatures and that adequate water supply is provided.

This came after the court observed a “contrast situation” before it, with petitioners claiming villages were severely affected due to a shortage of water amid soaring temperatures during the summer season in the area, while the state government claimed there was sufficient water and that water tankers were not required.

The high court said that it was concerned that “each village in Melghat region be supplied with water during the challenging summer” after it was informed that “the temperatures would be further soaring to 48 degrees Celsius in the month of May and June in the Vidarbha region.”

A division bench of Justices Ravindra V Ghuge and Hiten S Venegavkar was hearing Public Interest Litigations on malnutrition deaths among children, pregnant women, and lactating mothers in the tribal area.

Earlier, on April 29, noting that the Vidarbha region would remain “virtually on fire” until the onset of the rainy season, the high court had sought daily potable water tanker supply to villages in the tribal Melghat region.

On Thursday, senior advocate Jugal Kishore Gilda, for the petitioners, along with Dr Ashish Satav of the NGO Mahan Trust working in the Melghat region, informed the court that he had given the government lawyer a list of 33 severely affected villages in the tribal area with a “drought-like” situation.

However, Additional Government Pleader (AGP) Bhupesh V Samant, for the state, on instructions from officials and along with photographs, said that in some of the villages, including Dabhiya, Chikhaldara, and Sawrya, the water is flowing through hand pumps. He said that the authorities had been taking measures to provide water to nine villages other than the list of 33 that were affected.

“We have a contrast situation before us. Gilda, along with Satav, who has devoted his life in the tribal area, informs us that human life and cattle are going thirsty,” the bench noted. It added that, on the other hand, AGP Samant, on specific instructions of four officers present in the court hall, informed the court, “In some areas water flows through the taps and in some areas there are tankers kept in readiness at the beck and call and one indication of need of water will be responded to by a tanker supplying water in that village”.

Samant added that such tankers are paid for by the district water supply department, and no tribal person is required to pay for such water, as Gram Sevaks and block development officers (BDOs) are required to monitor the distribution.

“We hope that no human life and cattle will go thirsty in all these 33 villages, as well as the other villages which may not have been enlisted, which are said to be around 300 in the Melghat region,” the high court noted and posted the further hearing “to deal with scarcity of water” in the region on June 22.