Prabhhu Singh runs a small general store at the tank at the village entrance, selling assorted items of daily need. But every day, he also purchases a 20-litre water bubble top can to quench the thirst of his family.
For the past few days not only Mr. Singh, but most others in the village have been getting used to buying water cans. Reason? According to the villagers, there are about 24 borewells for public use and many of them are on the verge of drying up.
“Even the borewell dug on the bund of the tank in the village entrance had already dried up and this speaks about the gravity of the drinking water problem,” says Mr. Singh, adding several agriculture borewells too have dried up.
“Every day we are getting only one or two pots of water as our house is located far from the water connection point. Being old what I can do except compromise with the available water,” asked Dhanampally Bakkaiah, a resident of the village.
No choice
Atmakur has a population of about 5,000 with 1,000 houses. Many of them cannot afford to buy drinking water every day. So, they are forced to be content and compromise with whatever water is available while others buy water in cans.
“There is a grave drinking water problem in the village and we are not getting Mission Bhagiratha water yet. Though there are 24 borewells in the village many of them have already dried up and some are yielding very little water. Not everyone is in a position to purchase water. Every day, about 400 water bubble top cans are being sold in the village,” admitted a local public representative on condition of anonymity.
The rest is simple math. Each bubble top can costs ₹ 20 and 400 bottles add up to ₹ 8,000 per day and ₹ 2.4 lakh per month!
With the summer growing in intensity, the villagers have to spend this amount till the monsoon. There seems to be no alternative until then.
