In Trimbakeshwar it aches to be a woman

Bharti Aher treks nearly 5 km every day carrying handis and cans loaded with 30 litres of water For the 45yearold who hails from Dhumodi village in Trimbakeshwar taluka where water dries out in its wells by April or March this daily trudge to and fro a hand pump in a nearby village is excruciating Collecting and carrying water are womenrsquos responsibilities ldquoIf we donrsquot do it there will be no water to cook and clean at homerdquo she shares The situation is the same in the neighbouring villages of Pahine Brahmanwade and Amboli ldquoIn all these years the only change I have seen in my village are the taps but they run dry in the summerrdquo Women both young and old are forced to step out An example being octogenarian Rupabai Pandu Dehade The elderly woman can be seen lumbering her way to Pahine with handis of water ldquoItrsquos becoming more and more difficult with age but we have no choicerdquoForty eightyearold Dhumodi village resident Chandrabhaga Khotre says that drawing water from hand pumps can be exhausting ldquoIt takes more physical labour sometimes we queue up as early as 7 am at the spot Our turn only comes four hours laterrdquoThe travails of these women have been documented in a recent survey conducted in Trimbakeshwar taluka by writerresearcher Mayuri Dhumal as part of a United Nations fellowship According to Dhumal women in the region carry an average weight of 22000 kg of water on their heads and walk about 1800 km every yearPM Narendra Modirsquos Jal Jeevan Mission had envisioned providing safe and adequate drinking water through individual household tap connections by 2024 with 55 litres of water supply per day ldquoBut 58 per cent households in the region still donrsquot have a water taprdquo says Dhumal who through her survey wanted to understand how this puts a strain on women Twentysevenyearold Chandrakala Korde sarpanch of Brahmanwade says despite being the head of the village she too goes to fetch water from the neighbouring hand pump as men in the household refrain from the task Last year she collapsed while walking home with the handis and was bedridden for nearly eight daysA total of 100 women from the villages of Dhumodi Hirdi Brahmanwade Pahine Manipada Loharpada Hattipada Devdongra were interviewed between November 2022 and June 2023 ldquoWhile the survey is still ongoing findings from the interviews revealed how collecting water has impacted the lives and health of womenBharti Aher treks nearly 5 km every day from Dhumodi to fill water at a nearby handpump The average requirement in her home is 30 litres dailyAs per the survey 40 per cent women surveyed fetch water themselves 39 per cent said that their mother fetches water 21 per cent stated that their sister was tasked with the job Fifty four per cent of women described it as the ldquotoughest taskrdquo of their daymdashgoing to work in the farms is a close second on the list ldquoFifty nine per cent said they had water shortage in their village They stated that they have to travel at least 2 km to get waterrdquo she says adding ldquoIt takes 15 to 2 hours for them to fetch water Sometimes it takes more than two hours It varies depending on how big the family is and how much water they needrdquoWomen travel at least 2 km daily to fetch water from nearby hand pumps according to a recent survey by writerresearcher Mayuri Dhumal who spoke to 100 women in the region between November 2022 and June 2023Nearly 46 per cent of girls bring two pots of water on their heads at a time Most of them said that they have to make a trip to the village well or handpump three to four times a day While 67 per cent of the women said that they carry water pots on their heads 12 per cent said they carry pots on their waist Twenty per cent girls said that they use vehicles like bicycles or carts to fetch waterMayuri DhumalThe impact of gathering water is enormous and has had lasting repercussions on the women and girls of these villagesmdashit has significantly reduced the time they get to spend with their families study or even engage in leisure activitiesVB Mokal left an arogya sevak at Amboli Health Centre said that during a recent health drive at some of the villages in Trimbakeshwar they witnessed high incidence of body weakness among womenKaveri Ambapure 17 wants to become a doctor but she hardly manages to go to school A resident of Pahine she says that her family sends her to collect water twice every day ldquoMy school is in Trimbakeshwar which is about 30 minutes from our village Because of the waterfilling duties I often end up missing class or just get too tired to go all the way to schoolrdquo she says adding ldquoIf we get piped water supply things might get better for usrdquo Despite these roadblocks Ambapure scored 74 per cent in her SSC examsMayuri Dhumalrsquos survey has highlighted the indirect impact of water scarcity on girlrsquos education ldquoTwenty per cent of the girls said that their studies remain incomplete 17 per cent said that they missed crucial school hours and 14 per cent said they donrsquot reach school on timerdquo An alarming seven per cent of girls have dropped out of schoolSome of the villages have water tanks that bring water from the wells to community taps but these taps run dry in the summer monthsChandrakala Korde 27 is the sarpanch of Brahmanwade Being the head of the village doesnrsquot mean she is spared from waterfetching duties ldquoJust last year I collapsed on my way home while bringing waterrdquo Korde recounts ldquoI was put on bed rest for eight days and was administered salinerdquoLike Korde many women who were surveyed complained of suffering from innumerable health issues Headache stomach ache back pain and body pain were most common Nearly half of the women said they went to fill water when they were menstruating ldquoAnd 81 per cent of women said that they fetched water even when they were sickrdquo shares DhumalHB PawarSpeaking to midday Asha worker from Brahmanwade Vimal Ganpat Korde says that women complaining of body pain often come to her for basic medication as they donrsquot have a doctor in their village ldquoI usually give them paracetamolrdquo VB Mokal an arogya sevak health worker at Amboli Health Centre told midday that during a recent health drive at some of the villages in Trimbakeshwar taluka they witnessed high incidence of body weakness among women ldquoThe physical labour of carrying heavy water pots has taken a toll on their health but none of them want to come to the health centre and get themselves checkedrdquo he saysAccording to Korde whatrsquos most concerning is that ldquomen never offer to helprdquo ldquoFetching water is a task they look down upon despite the fact that they themselves use the waterrdquoMost of these villages are also battling water contamination Mokal of Amboli health centre says they keep getting cases of diarrhoea gastroenteritis and other waterborne diseases as water is often collected from unsafe sourcesAs a regular practice Mokal and his team label the village in colour codes based on the level of contamination ldquoWe check the wells every six months regularly add TCL total chlorine and alum powderrdquo he says adding that TCL and alum powders are also given to the villagers ldquoBut they do not know how much quantity needs to be added An excess of TCL and alum can cause diarrhoea and stomach acherdquoThe failure of the Jal Jeevan Yojana in a way is also a failure of the Swachh Bharat Mission a countrywide campaign initiated to eliminate open defecation and improve solid waste managementWhile many homes have toilets most of these lie unused ldquoThe water we collect only helps meet drinking and household requirementsrdquo says Tulsabai Gare Pahine village ldquoWe wash clothes at the source like near wells Extra water for toilets is a luxury we cannot affordrdquo This is one of the reasons why villagers continue to defecate in the openAccording to Hari Korde deputy head up sarpanch of Brahmanwade under the Jal Jeevan Yojana 14 villages were supposed to get water supply from Beze dam in Trimbakeshwar through a pipeline ldquoHowever work on this project has been going on for the last five years and we still donrsquot have a direct connection to the housesrdquo he says asking ldquoIs it so difficult to build tanks and give water pipelines to a villagerdquoBack in 2007 long before the Jal Jeevan Yojana even came into being stakeholders in these villages were attempting to implement the Jal Swarajya Yojana which included developing strategies approaches campaigns and methods that enable individuals families groups organisation and community to play an active role in achieving sustainable development ldquoWater from the wells was directed to village tanks and supplied to households through pipelines with the help of motorsrdquo remembers HB Pawar gram sevak at the Pahine Gram PanchayatldquoA worker was hired at a monthly wage of Rs 3000 to maintain these tanks We levied a tax of R1200 annually but many of the men backed out While they can spend money on alcohol and tobacco they wonrsquot shell out money to make the lives of their wives and daughters any easier This scheme floppedrdquoWhen contacted HL Khatale block development officer of Trimbakeshwar said that most of the villages have their own tanks for which water is sourced from the wells ldquoWhen the wells dry up we assign water tankers We are trying everything at our level to reduce the burden of these womenrdquoAshima Mittal CEO of Nashik Zilla Parishad said they are working in phases to make the Jal Jeevan Yojana available to all ldquoIn some of the villages this is proving to be a challenge because of their remote locationrdquo 22000 kgAvg weight of water women carry every year Water report cardPahine villagePopulation 658 men 637 womenNumber of wells 2For drinking purpose 1Hand pump 3For drinking water 1Dhumodi villagePopulation 491 men 444 womenNumber of wells 3For drinking purpose 2Hand pump 1For drinking purpose UnfitBrahmanwade village Population 1268 men 1185 womenNumber of wells 2For drinking purpose 1Hand pump 3For drinking purpose 1