Maharashtra’s drought crisis: Why women are climbing into wells

India Today

Draupada walks 2.5 km every morning to fetch water. Then, she climbs into a dangerously deep well with nothing but a rope and a few pots.

Transcript

00:00I feel scared, right?

00:02I feel scared.

00:04I feel scared.

00:06I feel scared.

00:08Draupada walked 2.5 km,

00:10then trekked all the way to the bottom

00:12of the well just to fetch water.

00:14Not in some remote faraway land,

00:16but in Maharashtra, just a couple

00:18hours away from Mumbai, home to

00:20Bilinez and Bollywood. In Borichivari

00:22village of Nashik district, the only

00:24source of drinking water is a nearly

00:26dry, deep public well.

00:28You can drink.

00:30No, we drink.

00:32Here's the thing, every morning

00:34women like Draupada risk their lives

00:36literally to collect water.

00:38No harness, no safety net,

00:40just a rope, some metal pots and

00:42sheer desperation. And it's not just

00:44her, the scene looks like a pilgrimage.

00:46Children, youths, women rushing

00:48to the well, buckets tied to ropes

00:50dangle like lifelines into the well.

00:52Back in 2019, the government promised

00:54every rural home would get a

00:56household tap connection under the Jal Jeevan

00:58mission.

01:00But that promise still runs dry

01:02in villages. The deadlines

01:04here, but the taps in many villages

01:06still missing. The officials

01:08say that they address the gap by sending in

01:10water tankers, but the villagers don't

01:12find it sufficient. In fact, the men

01:14in this village are often rejected for

01:16marriage because women say there's not enough water

01:18here.

01:22In 2023, a village

01:24Sarpan said this crisis had been going

01:26on for over a decade.

01:28According to the mission's official dashboard,

01:32Maharashtra claims about 90% coverage

01:34of tap connections in rural households.

01:36But there's a catch. Coverage

01:38doesn't mean supply. A 2022

01:40functionality assessment revealed,

01:42in Parbani district, 96%

01:44households received water regularly,

01:46but only 73% got potable water,

01:48and 84% of families paid for the service

01:50even if water didn't come daily.

01:52Now, zoom out. India is the largest extractor

01:54off-ground water in the world. By 2050,

01:56our per capita water availability may fall

01:58to 1140 cubic meters, dangerously close

02:00to being water scars.

02:02In December 2024, the Centre told Parliament

02:04that Maharashtra is switching to pipe

02:06distribution instead of open canals

02:08to reduce leakage. They've also

02:10started water audits to track usage

02:12and losses. But let's be honest,

02:14what use is an audit if

02:16will be available in the future?

02:18In December 2024, the Centre told

02:20parliament that Maharashtra is switching

02:22to pipe distribution instead of open canals

02:23use is an audit if women still have to

02:25rattle down a well to drink. This is

02:27a contradiction of two Indias.

02:29In one, rooftop pools.

02:31In another, bucket queues at 6am.

02:33So, until women like Draupada

02:35can turn a tap into their home,

02:37Hargharjal is just a line on paper.

02:39It's a good thing.

02:41It's a good thing.

02:43We have to have to have to have to have to have to

02:45be a little bit more.

02:47We have to have to have to have to have to

02:49take water as far as possible.

02:51That's why the government

02:53wants us to have to have water.

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