Achi news desk-
Land report from the village of Pelgar.
– Photo: Amar Ojala
expansion
It was already 12:30 in the afternoon. The sun was overhead and the temperature reached around forty degrees. Silence prevailed on the roads in the plateau areas. After leaving Netali in Palgar, we had only gone about twenty kilometers on the road to Nashik when we saw the village we were supposed to reach. A complete barren area. On the road leading to the village from the main road and on the side road of the village there was a queue of women. In the hot afternoon, a woman ran from her house with a pot on her head to fetch water, while someone was already standing in line at the water tank. Everyone from children to the elderly were waiting for two water pots to be provided with drinking water in their home. When the team of AmarUjala.com spoke to the women here, their plight for water came to light.
A water crisis is nothing new in the village of Balkafra Pelgar. For the past few years, the life of people here becomes difficult during the summer season. In fact, there is no fixed arrangement for drinking water here. Women who stood in line to receive water in the village said that when the tank is filled with water, drinking water is available to the villagers. Lalita from the village, who stood in line to fetch water, says that there is a lot of water problem here. In this place you have to stand in line. Many times the situation becomes such that they even fight among themselves. Lalita says a family has to survive with two pots of water. When the water runs out, water arrangements have to be made here and there. Many times people even have to ask for a water tanker.
People of this village say that the price of a tanker ranges from 500 to 700 rupees. It is not necessary that every person who needs water in the village can afford this price. So, he asks the village sarpanch and queues up for water again. Or he becomes helpless and arranges some water for him by getting help from the people in his neighborhood. Gauri, a girl from the same village, stood in line to fill two pots and a bottle with water. Gauri says there are five people in her house, but this water is not enough for them. Because a lot of people are already standing here in line. Therefore they can’t get more water than that. But even if the water runs out, they will have to stand in long lines for hours until the tank is filled with water. Then they will be able to get some more water by traveling somewhere.
