As temperatures soar and the intense summer heat grips parts of India, several villages in the Melghat region of Maharashtra’s Amravati district are facing a dire water crisis. Residents are compelled to collect water from polluted sources to meet their daily needs.
In Mariampur village, the situation is particularly grim. Villagers are forced to dig pits along the bank of a contaminated pond to gather drinking water. This desperate measure highlights the severity of the water scarcity they face.
“Our village has only one pond, and it’s polluted,” said Subhash Sawalkar, a resident. “We wake up around 4 am and go to the pond to collect water for our children. It takes about 2-3 hours to fill the pits we dig. People queue up to collect this polluted water, which causes health problems for our children. Just today, I had to take my children to the doctor for medicine.”
The villagers have voiced their frustration over the lack of government intervention. Phulkai Belsare, an elderly resident, stated, “There is no tanker supply, and we don’t receive water from the tap. We come here early in the morning and sometimes have to stay until 10-11 pm just to collect this dirty water. The water crisis is creating a lot of trouble, and no one is taking action upon it.”
Jasmine, another villager, expressed her anger, saying, “Can nobody see what is happening in Mariampur? From the Municipal Committee to the water department, everyone is just sleeping. We face a severe water crisis. Other villages have government taps and borewells, but we don’t even have those. We had one facility for tap water, but that was also damaged. I demand that the government repair our taps.”
Amravati falls within the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, which has long struggled with water scarcity. The region’s vulnerability to climate change exacerbates the problem, contributing to a high rate of farmer suicides due to the lack of water.
This crisis in Amravati mirrors similar issues in other parts of the country. On Thursday, residents of Delhi’s Geeta Colony also reported severe water shortages, with government tankers supplying only half of the required amount. Vinay, a resident, told ANI, “Our locality has a population of around 3,000-4,000 people, but the government sends only half the required number of tankers. Sometimes, they reduce the amount of water in the tanker, due to which we suffer a lot.”
In Siliguri, residents were advised not to drink municipal water due to contamination, leading to long queues for private water suppliers. Municipal Corporation Mayor Gautam Dev reported, “After receiving a report that found the BOD level is slightly high, we requested the people of Siliguri not to take the supply water for drinking purposes until further notice.”
The ongoing water crisis across various regions underscores the urgent need for effective and immediate governmental action to ensure access to clean and safe drinking water for all citizens.
