A battle for survival: To quench thirst, residents of this Assam village collect water dripping from mountains

Dima Hasao (Assam) [India], Apr 15 (ANI): People residing in Semkhor village of Assam are facing acute water crisis even after 70 years of independence.

To meet their needs, the residents of this village collect water that drips from the mountains in pits.

Crying foul, the locals here told ANI, that governments kept on changing but none helped them in combating the crisis.

Sopesh Pathari, a resident of Semkhor village, narrating his ordeal said, "We drink water which comes out of mountains. We do not have arrangements like tubewell or anything by the government. People residing in the area are drinking water like this."

Their sufferings do not end here; the locals have to travel over a kilometre to fetch water every day.

"We have a big water problem. We have requested the government department but they did not do anything. We travel one kilometre to get clean water," another resident Khurabi told ANI.

The locals further underscored that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government has constructed toilets but not provided water in them.

"It is very difficult to search for water. We do not even get water to bath," a woman here said.

As per Census 2011, the availability of drinking water in households in Assam within the premises is 55%, near the household premises is 27%, and away from the household premises is 19%. Census 2011 defines the concept of 'within the premises' as the area of the household, and 'near the premises' in an urban scenario as 100m from the premises and 500m from the premises in a rural scenario. 'Away', in the urban scenario, is defined as beyond 100m from the household premises and in a rural area as beyond 500m.