Water crisis: Nashik women risk life to scrape water off deep dry well. Watch

The situation underscores the widespread impact of the prolonged drought in the region, worsened by the absence of rainfall over the region. (Image credit: ANI)

Amid a drought-like acute water crisis in Maharashtra's Nashik, the women of Cholmukh village have been risking their lives every day to fetch water for their families. They have been lowering themselves to deep, dry wells to scrape water off the puddles at the bottom. These women also have to walk at least one kilometer in the sun to get access to water. Visuals of the hardships villagers face are now viral on social media.

"We need water every day but there is no water in our village. All the women risk their lives to fetch water from the well for this reason. We have been facing water scarcity here for two years," one of the women who went down the well to fetch the water told news agency ANI.

Another woman added, "We live in Nashik district and there is no water in our village. Every day, some woman or the other climbs down into the well because there has been no rain, hence there is no water. In doing so, they risk their lives to fetch water from the well."

#WATCH | Nashik, Maharashtra: People of Cholmukh village forced to fetch water by entering a deep well amid the scorching heat due to acute water shortage. pic.twitter.com/RkwH0iYYdq

— ANI (@ANI) June 16, 2024

Others said that they often have to walk two hours in the sun just to fetch two pots of water. "Sometimes there are even fights," a villager said.

The villagers also claimed that the little water they manage to scrape off the well is polluted which may lead to health concerns.

Villagers use cloth to try and filter the water collected from the well. (Image credit: ANI)

The situation underscores the widespread impact of the prolonged drought in the region, worsened by the absence of rainfall over the region. "This water problem has been going on for the past five years. By the time May arrives, even the water in the well gets completely depleted. If there is no rain from above, there is no water here," a villager told ANI.