Question

Write two reasons why people in villages often have to walk long distances to fetch water.​

Answer 1

Answer:

Women in Indian villages have borne the brunt of water scarcity for a long time. Tales of young women missing out on school or college to fetch water for their families are common across the Indian countryside even today. But then there are extreme examples, such as the village of Denganmal, 150 kilometres from Mumbai. In this village, whose story was featured in an article by the Open magazine, men marry a second—sometimes even a third—woman whose only role is to fetch water for the family by making arduous 3 km-long treks several times a day.

While Denganmal may be an exception, securing even the minimum amount of water for their everyday needs is a daily struggle for a large section of rural India. In the absence of public water supplies, rural households have come to depend on privately-extracted groundwater for 85% of their needs.