In Sonwad village in Jalgaon, Maharashtra, there is a small cluster of homes right beside the Anjani River. The people who live here are called Kumbhars, the famous potters of the Khandesh region. From generations their homes are beside the Anjani river because the river gives them the clay that makes their work possible.

Every year the pottery season starts from November and goes till June or July. Then the monsoon stops everything. Pots cannot dry in rain. The open kiln for pots cannot be lit in wet weather. All the income this community earns comes from those seven to eight working months.

The Sonwad Kumbhars are known across the Khandesh region for two things. The Khapar, a flat clay pot used to cook puranpoli and mandya. And the raanjan, a round clay pot that keeps drinking water naturally cool and sweet. People have come to them for these products for generations.

Making a pot needs a clay composition that cannot be changed. They need 60 to 70 percent river clay, and 30 to 40 percent white or red farm soil to make a pot. River clay cannot be replaced by anything else. Without enough river clay, the pot cracks during its making process or just later in 2-3 months. Firewood, horse dung for kilns, vehicles for selling pots, and other raw materials: everything in this work costs money. Only the clay along Anjani bank was always free for the Kumbhar community.

In recent years, that began to change. The clay that monsoon water used to flow from upstream to the downstream near Sonwad has declined a lot. Today the Kumbhars go to the Girna River to procure clay. They pay for tractors and JCB to bring that clay to Sonwad. It costs three to four thousand rupees for each trip they bring. What was free for generations now has to pay a price. Nobody other than potters asks today why the river clay has been declining?

Shreesai Kharat is a MA Development Graduate and Director at Youth Organization for Green India (YOGI). His work focuses on river ecology, and sustainable development that empower grassroots communities.

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