Water crisis grips Rajasthan village; people forced to drink dirty water

People of a village near Jodhpur have been facing water crisis as the pond from which they used to fetch water has dried out. The villagers are left with no choice but to collect water from the dry pond by digging in the mud. A villager said, "There are 400 to 500 families living in Jajival village and they are left with no choice but to drink the water left in the pond. There are water tanks here but there is no water in them. No pipeline is working so the only source of water left is that of the pond. Some people do get water by purchasing the water tank but this is expensive and not everybody can afford it."

"There were two pipelines in the village but they have dried now. A third pipeline was laid six months back but it got leaked somewhere and the water never reached the village. The water in the pond is harmful to drinking as there are dead fishes inside it," another villager said. The sarpanch of the village Sonal Kanwar said, "We have stopped the payment of contractor who is working on fitting the third pipeline. Until the contractor fixes the pipeline, till then no payment will be made to him."