In Savri Village Of Madhya Pradesh, People Stay Thirsty As River & Handpumps Go Dry
Shanta Bai, 24, jabs a bindi onto her forehead and slips on a shirt over her saree, as she dresses for work. Shanta is a labourer and goes along with her husband for work. Mother to a one-year-old, her day starts at five in the morning, to prep
Shanta Bai, 24, jabs a bindi onto her forehead and slips on a shirt over her saree, as she dresses for work. Shanta is a labourer and goes along with her husband for work. Mother to a one-year-old, her day starts at five in the morning, to prepare food before she leaves her village, Savri, to fetch water from a pump located far away.
Shanta comes from the Gond tribe. ¡°Up until last month, I had to walk at least 3 km to fetch water, but the rainfall has given us some respite. Now, we get water almost 1 km away. This year, even the rain god is not happy with us,¡± she says.
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The condition of Savri village is very grim, and there is no water in the Syani river (a tributary of the Narmada). The villagers expected the river to fill up and flow with rigour during the rainy season, but nothing happened. Every day, they say a silent, fervent prayer for heavy rainfall, just so there is water to drink.
Naushad Khan
"The neighbouring village has water, but that is also limited so they don't allow us to take any of it. The condition of the river is known to everyone and even the animals of our village have disappeared. Soon people will start shifting to other places if water doesn't reach the village. There is no water to drink, no water for anything. Without water, there is no life. How long can the villagers survive?¡± she asks.
No 'Van' in 'Vangram'
The well in the village has dried up, hand pumps do not work, and the river is just a stretch of dry land where children play cricket or football. You can even ride across it on a motorcycle.
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Shantha says the problem is not new and the villagers have been suffering from a drought-like situation for more than three years. "The government is doing nothing for us. This is vangram (non-revenue villages), but there is neither van (forest), nor water to grow gram (chana)," she says.
The Savri village lies about 18 km from the Sirali tehsil in Harda district of Madhya Pradesh, about 45 km from the district collector¡¯s headquarters.
Naushad Khan
Harda's district collector, Anay Dwivedi, says the administration has been doing its best to solve the problem of water in the village. "The problem in Savri is a natural disaster and we have arranged for water through tankers. The construction of a water tank is underway and will take some time. In the meantime, a handpump has been installed to meet the requirements of the villagers," he said.
According to the Dwivedi¡¯s office, few parts of Harda district have not received half the average rainfall as earlier, due to which this problem is taking place. "The problem is not new and has been persisting since last two to three years. The administration sends the water tanker to these areas to solve the problem," they said.
Drinking poison
Chotteram, the village head, says about 35 families live in Savri, and the total population is 125. He claims that no government official has paid any heed to the problem of water scarcity here.
"The water we drink is contaminated, as this is consumed by animals too. We are drinking poison. The water left in some patches in the river is so dirty that even animals don't drink it," Chotteram complained.
Naushad Khan
"We made several complaints to the collector and minister but no one ever tried to solve the problem. Now, families have started moving out. Recently, two families shifted to the city and are living on the streets but they get water there," he says. The villagers have been demanding a water tank and motor pump for a very long time from the public health engineering department, but nothing has been done so far to quench our thirst," he adds.
"Even our children have to walk 2-3 km to get water, and there is no arrangement even in the primary school for children and teachers. Such is the situation," said the headman.
Ram Kali Bai, 30, an agricultural labourer and homemaker, says that during the summers, it becomes very difficult for people to work as no water is available. She says that one of her three kids has to leave early every morning to fetch water from the dry river bed, as after sunrise, animals start coming in as well.
"There are three hand pumps in our village, of which two are not working because there is no groundwater. One hand pump has been fitted with a motor, but produces very limited quantity of water. Last summer, the motorized pump gave water till the first week of May. This time too, we don't have much hope left," she says.
Groundwater level dipping
According to figures available with the Harda district administration, more than 500 hand pumps in the district stopped pumping water in the first week of April, due to the fall in groundwater level, while the Narmada, the main source of water in Madhya Pradesh, has also shrunk drastically.
Naushad Khan
According to a report by the Customized Rainfall Information System, a part of the Indian Meteorological Department, the average rainfall in Harda is 1261.7 mm, but the district has received only 439.23 mm of rainfall in the current spell, while the rainfall last year was just 405.1 mm.
The government has declared 132 tehsils in 18 districts as drought-hit, and water, a precious commodity in these times, is transported through tankers.
Kusum Mehdele, public health engineering department minister, said there has been scanty rainfall this year, due to which the spectre of drought looms over the state.
"The department is trying its best to deal with the situation. This year, the monsoon is delayed, and the problem has worsened because this part has received less rainfall compared with other parts of the state. The situation is not so serious, and the government is continuously working to control it. Water is being sent through tankers," she said.
The writer is a Harda-based freelance journalist.
This is the third story in Indiatimes' water series.
