STORY: This dried-up well supplies water for residents in a hamlet near Mumbai
Location: Telamwadi, India
Women and children have to trek more than a mile every day to fetch water
even though their homes are not far from a dam that provides water to India’s financial capital
Villagers say water supplies run short from March to May every year
when temperatures can run as high as 104°F
(Ashok Amey Shinde, Villager)
“The government encourages us to breed animals but what will we give them to drink if we don’t have any water to drink ourselves? This is the situation here. Only one water tanker comes to this village every day which has a population of 600 people. If the tanker capacity is 1,000 liters, will it be enough for 600 people? People bathe, use toilets, and many other small chores require water and one tanker is not enough for us.”
Indian authorities say water for the area will eventually come from a dam on another river
Until then, residents will have to depend on daily tanker supplies
The World Bank says India ranks among the world’s most water-stressed nations
with just 4% of global water resources, despite being the world’s most populous
