BELAGAVI: One pot of water a day. That’s all each family of Vadgaon village in Belagavi’s Khanapur taluk is allowed to fill up from the village well. And if they dare take an extra pot of water, they are fined Rs 500. This is the extent of water scarcity in Vadgaon and several parts of north Karnataka that are reeling under the worst-ever drought this year.
The fast depleting water table in the village forced the Vadgaon Gram Panchayat to enforce this rule. Though the village has two wells, standing next to each other, drawing water from one well affects the water level in the other. This led to fights among villagers. So the panchayat stepped in and ruled that water can be drawn from only one well.
There are more than 100 families in Vadgaon and the rationing had to be fixed at one pot per day. The panchayat has even deputed two persons to monitor the well from 7 am to 9 am daily. That’s the only time villagers can draw water from the well. If any family is caught drawing more water, it has to pay up Rs 500 as fine, on the spot.
Speaking to Express, Sunil Shankar Desai, Gram Panchayat member, said they were left with little options. Though there is a 3.5 km long pipeline that carries water from Kusmalli village to Vadgaon, the water had become too polluted and unfit for even bathing. Desai said a water tanker used to come earlier but the villagers were charged Rs 10 per pot. The tanker owners would also demand a minimum fare of Rs 800 to supply water.
The government provides Rs 348 per tanker but it’s too little for the tanker owners, said Desai. Finding the water costs too expensive, villagers stopped calling tankers. It’s very rarely, when the water scarcity becomes too unbearable, that they collect money to hire a tanker. Until then, life revolves around the single pot, and prayers for rain.
