India: No access to water, 250 women from Angrotha village dig through hill for 18 months
Netizens questioned why the Indian government failed to provide proper infrastructure
In the remote village of Angrotha in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, water is scarce and infrastructure is lacking. Taking matters into their own hands, a group of 250 women cut through a hill in the past 18 months to get access to the necessity.
Without any modern technology or machinery, the women have now successfully carved the pathway for the water to reach a pond inside the village, which is facing severe water shortage for a long time.
Babita Rajput, a villager, was quoted as saying: “We have been working for over 18 months to channel into the village the water that used to freely flow in the forest and thus could not be used. So, the women in the village formed a group and it was decided to cut the hill to a length of about half kilometers and make way for the water to fall into a pond in the village.”
“We are doing this for ourselves, there is water shortage here. We are unable to farm and our livestock was also suffering. About 250 women dug a way for water to flow into the pond in our village. It took us about 18 months to complete this work,” Vivitabai Adivasi, another resident of the area was quoted as saying.
Speaking about the hardships the women had to endure, villager Ram Ratan Singh Rajput said: “For the past 18 months, the women here have decided to provide water to our village Angrotha. They have cut a hill and made a waterway. The women are also working on removing several stones that are present in the path of the water flow.”
Social media users were also quick to laud the women, while some questioned why the government failed to provide the villagers with proper infrastructure.
Tweep @deepadoc wrote: “This work should have done by [the] government, why women have to take this in their hands? Why government is incompetent? Why they don't use their resources to develop basic infrastructure for people? Water is basic need of citizens. If you take vote from people then solve their problems as well.”
Similarly, Twitter user @VijayarajB posted: “I still don't understand. Why local municipality is so insensitive and lethargic towards the basic amenities required by people.”