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| Back-Breaking walk for water | | |
Chetna Verma
Climate change is affecting women
in rural India, including in the pictur
esque J&K, in ways that have not been fully appreciated across the country. They face health issues and have little quality time left to devote to family and friends
Any reference to the State of Jammu & Kashmir conjures images of immense tranquility. A journey to the border district of Poonch in the Pir Panjal range proves true to this vivid image. Fresh air from the dense green forests spins a surreal world with the melody of the gurgling streams adding to the sensory treat.
A closer look, however, shows the near perfect picture unravelling. At the left turn from Bhimber Gali junction towards Mendhar tehsil, one enters the strategically-sensitive area which is often in news for ceasefire violations, given its proximity to the international border. As one approaches the inhabited areas, groups of women come into view, carrying buckets and balancing earthen pots on their heads. A quintessential village scene in India, but the air of exhaustion around the women compels the visitor to think beyond the clichéd visuals.
The water crisis in Delhi has forced city folks to wake up at odd hours and collect water, with or without the use of pumps. There are no natural resources from where to draw water. In the entire district of Poonch, there are numerous natural springs, locally known as chashma, from where these women collect water. The biggest challenge: Having to walk a minimum of two to three kilometres each way in winter, extending up to as much as eight kilometres during summer.
Karam Jaan, a 32-year-old widow from Ari village, five to six kilometres from Mendhar town, has been carrying out this tedious task of fetching water from a nearby chashma for over a decade now. "This is our routine. All the women in this village fetch water from the chashma located down there near the fields", says Karam Jaan pointing towards the location of the natural resource located almost two kilometres away from her house.
More than the distance, it is the topography of the area that makes the task strenuous. Women of all ages have been doing this arduous chore for over two to three decades now. Their daily life is defined by the task of fetching water. Their feet are familiar with each boulder and crevice on the path to that chashma.
Forty-eight-year old Hamida Begum has spent over 25 years of her life fetching water for her family. "This was one of the duties I was given after my marriage; it continues to be the primary task even today. Along with my daughter-in-law and granddaughters, we women fulfill the daily requirement of water for the household", shares Hamida, going on to explain why her family requires about 40 to 60 litres of water a day. "Over 20 litres is what our buffaloes and other livestock require. The rest is utilised in bathing, washing clothes and utensils, preparing food and for drinking", says Hamida, who has to make four to five trips every day to fetch water.
The requirement goes up during festivals, social functions and gatherings and so does the number of rounds, with women making as many as eight trips to fetch water. "During special occasions, when our chores are more in any case, we make our children skip classes to help with fetching water to meet the additional requirement", says Naida Akhter, Hamida's daughter-in-law. Karam Jaan, Hamida Begum and Naida Akhter represent the faces of rural Indian women who spend a lot of their productive time walking to fetch drinking water from elsewhere. According to a recent report published by Centre for Science and Environment, Jammu & Kashmir is among the top seven States in terms of average time spent by household members for fetching water from outside the premises. Since the men have to work to earn money, they are usually free from the duty of arranging for water. It is the women in the households who are responsible for this chore, irrespective of their health status: Be they pregnant, physically weak or otherwise ailing. They are also the first ones to compromise on their education to get water. If these women have been fetching water from the same chashma for the last two to three decades, and there is enough water to fulfill the requirement of around 50 nearby houses, then why cannot they have water supply through pipeline directly in their houses? The fear is that in the coming years, with the changing climate, the water crisis will only worsen, intensifying its consequences. However, even more grave than the changing climate pattern is the ignorance of the villagers and the Government alike about the limited natural resources. These women talk at length about how the rain and snowfall pattern has continuously been changing in the last five years but are unable to recognise the grave challenges that await them if this continues unabated. The situation has the potential to create even worse crises and conflicts among water user groups. What this connotes in an area already marred by cross border conflict can only be imagined.
Little do the people realise that the rising temperatures have a direct bearing on the water crisis looming large.
This indicates that, in future, the distance being covered by rural women in search of water will likely go up, as also the number of water containers they carry, the trips they make and medicines they take to fight the adverse effect on their physical strength, severely affecting the quality of their lives.
( Courtsey : @dailypioneer.com) |
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