Women carry the burden of water crisis in India

With the help of UNICEF and Swayam Shikshan Prayog, over 10,000 women in 100 villages of Maharashtra have solved the water crisis in their respective villages.

Sweta Pendyala

Summer is approaching or should we say it is already here. On March 22, World Water Day is observed world over and, the usual thought comes to our minds is about the amount of water we are left with.

But, amidst the climate crisis and water scarcity, the world often forgets to discuss women and their struggle to fetch water on an everyday basis, especially in rural and underprivileged sectors of urban areas.

Every human being on earth is affected when there's a water crisis, but women in India are the ones who witness this pain before any other person in the family. In a report 'The Right to Water' jointly published by United Nations Human Rights, UnHabitat and World Health Organization state, "Lack of access to safe drinking water and sanitation affects women in particular. Women and children do most of the water collecting if drinking water is not available on the premises. Collecting and carrying water takes time and is a heavy burden on them. According to UNDP, it also helps to explain the very large gender gaps in school attendance in many countries. It is not rare for women to spend up to four hours a day walking, queuing and carrying water, time that could be put to productive activities or housework and childcare. The water collected is often dirty and from unprotected sources. Women's health can be particularly affected by the heavy burden of carrying water, as well as by water contact diseases such as schistosomiasis."

The report further continues, "Very often, women are excluded from decision-making concerning water and sanitation. As a result, their specific needs and circumstances are not taken into account in the development of water and sanitation programmes or the extension of these services."

In India, water collection is seen as a woman's job and, men at the house do not bother about the water sources. The worst part is, she cannot say no to stand in the queues even if she is sick and menstruating or her age doesn't allow her to do it. In urban areas, mostly women are seen standing in the

queues with colourful pots when the tanker comes to their respective areas. Whereas, in rural areas, women travel for kilometres to fetch water, as access to safe drinking water is scarce there.

Understanding that the water issue in rural areas is majorly affecting women and there's a need to resolve it, an organisation Swayam Shikshan Prayog (SSP), supported by UNICEF started to empower women on different topics. Through Women-led Sanitation Hygiene and Resilient Practices (wSHARP) around April 2018, water security is one of its main focus areas. Talking about the programme spread across 100 villages of Kallam and Osmanabad districts in Maharashtra, empowering over 10,000 women, associate director of programs, SSP, shares, "We started this programme two and a half years ago, and now, we see a huge change in those 100 villages. Women in villages take the burden of water and travel to kilometres from their home. It is not only is time-consuming but also takes a toll on their health. Most of the villages in the two districts are hit by droughts leaving the villages parched. From drinking water to agriculture, everything is a battle here." "Through our programme, we reached out to villages and, our primary aim is to educate women on their rights and make them realise their capabilities. More than bringing water to the villages, we aim to make these women stand up and solve their issues. We taught them about how they can work on bringing water to their area by installing their tanks. We trained them on the ways to conserve water and revive the drought land through rainwater harvesting."

Through wSHARP initiative by Swayam Shikshan Prayog, with the support of UNICEF, now women address own problems as well as help others. They now understand the effective ways to reuse water, curb water shortage, learn rainwater harvesting and build soak pits to recharge groundwater bodies. Earlier, the males used to work on cash crops but now foodrelated crops are also being cultivated.

"Our village was a droughtstricken and farming was an impossible task for us. I saw water as the concern that needed to be addressed not only because we all had to travel to kilometres to collect it but also because it was shutting the ways of income for us. Many of the people even started selling their cows and buffaloes as they couldn't afford to invest water in the food prepared for animals. Also, women had to leave working in farms of others as they spend most f their day fetching water," shares Priya Vibhishan Rakhunde, women leader at Khadki village of Kallam taluk in Osmanabad district of Maharashtra State. She further continues, "It also is life-threatening and, I saw how it took lives. As toilets were shut due to the availability of limited water, women couldn't help but sneak out in the dark or travel to isolated places for open defecation. It was same for everyone in the family but for females, it has always been uncomfortable. There was an old lady who went to defecate in open post evening and a snake bit her and she passed away. These kinds of incidents scared every woman in the village and, later they started to defecate on the roads of the village. Slowly the village started to stink and became unbearable."

Priya also adds that when two and a half years ago,

Swayam Shikshan Prayog visited their village that started to educate them on the basic rights we have as citizens. "We installed a tank and connected the motor to the well, we used to go and fetch from. Initially, it was difficult but now we made it systematic and women do not fight over it anymore. During the 'Jal Shakti' programme, we learned about a lot of ways to conserve water and through rainwater harvesting, I was able to recharge the groundwater near the borewell in my house in 2019. The borewell which stopped working years ago has started working now. A lot of other women started to follow the same and now our village doesn't have water problem at all," adds Priya.

The women who are the leaders at their respective villages also get to interact with and educate women in their village and surrounding villages. They are not only solving their problems but also helping other women learn to find solutions to the water problem in their respective villages.

Sharing on how water played an extremely crucial role

behind the health problems people in the village faced, Dilshad Sammer Tamboli, women leader at Shelka Dhanora village says, "Whoever was consuming the groundwater in our village were falling sick and suffering from diarrhoea. Black in colour, the water was not suitable for cooking and the food used to turn black. Many used to go to the farm situated around five kilometres away from the village and rest continued consuming the same water from the village. After Swayam Shikshan Prayog approached us, we started to slowly solve our problem and, it brought RO plant to our village with the help of Bajaj, for which, we borne the expenses of the pipeline. Now our village has two RO plants as the Gram Panchayat also installed another one post SSP installed one. It was not only making our lives easier but also was ensuring the good health of our family." Dilshad adds, "The RO plants were serving us the drinking water but we were yet to solve the water problems for other needs. Women had to still travel four kilometres and under the UNICEF project, we started planning tanks for each lane to facilitate 20-30 houses with water. We installed the tanks after each woman contributed her share for the

expenses and also got the groundwater tested in the laboratory to find solutions. The water couldn't be cured but was treated to some extent. Now the village doesn't go through the water crisis which was the major problem we faced. We pay rupees five for 20 litres of RO water provided by Bajaj's plant and Gram Panchyat gives 15 litres for the same amount." In Dilshad's village, the voice of women is heard and the Panchayat now consists of four women member along with other male authorities. These women in the villages have proved that if given a chance they can bring a change. "I believe, we are yet to solve 20 per cent of the water problem in our village. Each household has a tap but Gram Panchayat is yet to provide us with water. We are still fighting for it and we hope to see the success soon," adds Dilshad.

These 10,000 women in 100 villages are from some of the rural areas of Maharashtra and, more villages are yet to be covered. The count will increase with each passing day. The problem is not about women suffering from the water crisis in Maharashtra but about women in India as they are the first ones to deal with the water crisis in every region. These problems should be addressed.