MP's borewells go dry, villagers forced to walk kilometres for water

As mercury continue to witness a rise in several parts of India; the people of Madhya Pradesh's Satna district have been facing acute shortage of water.

Despite the presence of borewells in the area, villagers here are forced to walk almost three kilometres everyday to collect ground water for their basic needs.

The temperature hits at least 42 degrees Celsius during the day which has caused borewell water to dry up.

According to the locals in Satna's Ramnagar Khokhla,Tikuri Tola, Padmania and Dabri villages, many deaths occur every year as a result of this polluted water and only paperwork is provided in the name of water tankers by officials.

"We walk more than 2 kilometres daily only to fetch water which is polluted," said a local.

There is no administrative facility provided to the villagers who comprise of an approximate population of eighteen thousand.

Sub-divisonal magistrate, Satna said, "We have placed 2 water tankers of 5000 and 2000 litres here. Hand pups will also be installed soon to help the locals."

Deputy collector Om Narayan Singh said that there are two borewells but without water.

He added, "We have arranged the tanker from today. As a result, the villagers will get water easily and soon get rid of the water crises."

Many parts of country are experiencing water shortage in rural as well as urban areas. In a similar situation, acute water shortage forced locals to climb down a well to scoop out water at MP's Shahpura in Dindori district last month.