Women Battle Water Crisis In Drought-Hit TN Village

Acute scarcity of water in villages is a conundrum India has been struggling with for many decades now. The problem, however, exacerbates when men migrate to other areas in search of work, leaving women in the lurch. Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu is one of those drought-hit areas on the verge of an agricultural crisis.

While four out of five men have migrated for better job opportunities, women in the district deal with water woes by gathering near the pipeline once a week to fetch water that comes just for an hour.

Opening up about the day-to-day problems they face, a resident, Annamma, tells other women. “There is no water to drink, no food to eat and no job to do."

Read Also: This Woman Brought Toilets And Drinking Water To Her Village

Every single drop of water is precious for these women.“We get water from this pipe only once a week for one hour. Our men are not here and we have to ensure we don’t miss this supply to sustain our families,” said a farmer’s wife to NDTV.

Owing to the water scarcity problems that the village faces, even secondary jobs like cleaning of pond cannot be done, compelling the men to look for work elsewhere.

According to NDTV, the drought hit the district four months ago, The condition, since then, hasn't improved at all.

Last month, a woman from Ganesh Nagar, Sirsi, dug a 6-ft deep well single-handedly to solve the problem of water scarcity. She wanted to obtain a constant source of water for her plants. It took her three months to complete the digging.

Read Also: Indian woman digs a 60-feet-deep well without external help

Charvi Is An Intern With SheThePeople.TV