Rolling water tanks a big hit in rural parts of Karnataka
HUBBALLI: It’s a common scene in some taluks around Hubballi where women are seen with rolling water tanks designed to lessen the burden of residents in getting drinking water.
City-based Majethia Foundation has donated water wheel, a water container of 45-litre capacity, to the selected beneficiaries in various taluks of Dharwad district. Each water wheel costs around `2,300 and about 65 women have been provided with the same in the first phase of project.
Vikram Ganiger, a farmer from Bandiwad village, said: “With this simple device, water can be brought effortlessly. People of any age can use it. Earlier, we, especially women and children, had to put in a lot of effort to bring water. Women used to carry two pots, one on head and another on waist, at a time. With the arrival of water wheels, the job has become more easier and joyous.”
Fakeerappa Ganiger, another villager, said it was difficult to devote three-four hours a day to fetch water. With the water wheels, the time consumed in fetching water has reduced significantly. “Earlier, I used to make five trips to get 10 pots of water. Now, I make only three trips.”
Jitendra Majethia, president of the foundation, said: ‘We got the idea after noticing such devices in villages in other states. This is the first time in Karnataka such devices are made available to villagers. The water wheel has three layers of plastic, which makes it durable even on country roads,” he said.
He said they conducted a survey in villages to identify beneficiaries for distributing water wheels.
“We wanted to distribute the wheels in villages where water sources are far. When we visited such villages, we found women and children transporting water with great difficulty. We identified the beneficiaries and distributed the water wheels directly to them with the help of the zilla panchayat after collecting their details,” he said.