Water pits, the only respite for Bargarh women

There is only one tube well in the village and it pumps out 12 buckets of water throughout the day.

BARGARH: Every morning, Iswari Barik along with 20 other women of Putudera village in Bargarh district spends almost three hours under the sun for collecting water from a chuan (water pit) on the dry bed of Kumudi nullah. This has been a routine chore for women of the village under Khaliapali gram panchayat in Padampur block of the district from March when water started getting scarce.

More than the struggle to collect water, women of the village are worried about the days ahead as summer advances. They are apprehensive that the water holding in the nullah bed will dry up and digging pits will not be enough to satiate their thirst.

The district administration, on the other hand, has been blind to their struggle. The landscape of Bargarh is such that only three out of 12 blocks in the district get irrigated by Hirakud dam and Barpali block is partially irrigated. The rest are water stressed and drought prone areas with Padampur being one of the unfortunate blocks.

Come summer and people of the block feel pangs of water scarcity. The season marks beginning of struggle for every drop of water, particularly for women. While water bodies in entire Padampur sub-division have already dried up, there is some water in a few places in the form of slush. Condition of tube wells is no different as water level has gone down.

Under these circumstances, women of Putudera that has a population of 300 people, have been digging pits on the dry bed of Kumudi nullah, about one km from the village to collect water. These pits are the only water source left. There is only one tube well in the village and it pumps out 12 buckets of water throughout the day. The village tank has just ankle deep muddy water left in it. Padampur Block

Development Officer Madhuchhanda Sahu attributed the water woes to depleting ground water level. She said attention of RWSS has been drawn and efforts are underway to provide the village with tube-wells to combat water crisis.

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