BALANGIR: Collecting water in summer is a matter of life and death for residents of Sanguduchi Bhata, around 4 km from Khaprakhol block in the district.Putting their lives at risk, women and girls of the area have to balance themselves on a tree trunk to collect water from the lone 30 feet deep well. With water bodies drying up during the summer months, the well is the only source of respite for locals.
Sources said womenfolk have to perilously perch themselves on the tree trunk, which is placed over the well, to collect pails of water. “I was shocked to find women risking their lives to meet water needs of their households. They have to perform this dangerous act on a daily basis during the summer,” said Bhojraj Bariha, a social worker from nearby village.
With the water level dropping during the dry season, the tube-wells installed by the district administration have become defunct. People have to trek 2 km to reach the well for water. Gurubari, a local woman, said the situation is more or less the same every year. Though villagers have approached the district administration for provision of water several times in the past, it has failed to yield any result, she said.
Though the administration sends a water tanker to the village occasionally, the supply fails to meet the needs of 1,500 people who reside in Sanguduchi Bhata, said another villager.Notably, Sanguduchi Bhata has also hit headlines for migration and Maoist-related incidents in the past.