{"id":20094215,"date":"2022-07-08T12:30:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-08T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thethirdpole.net\/?p=94215"},"modified":"2022-07-23T15:20:33","modified_gmt":"2022-07-23T09:50:33","slug":"womens-lives-get-harder-in-bundelkhand-as-water-scarcity-grows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/womens-lives-get-harder-in-bundelkhand-as-water-scarcity-grows\/","title":{"rendered":"Women\u2019s lives get harder in Bundelkhand as water scarcity grows"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Every day during the summer months, Kamlawati Yadav wakes up at 6 am and walks half a kilometre to a house with a private borewell. \u201cGetting water is the first thing I do,\u201d Kamlawati says. \u201cI carry one water container on my head and a second by hand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once home she wakes her sons, who are asleep on their cots outside the house due to the summer heat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She will have to make the trip again in the evening, carrying 72 litres on both journeys, to get the water her family of five needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe have to get things done with four buckets of water per day,\u201d she says as she moves the containers inside the house with the help of her daughter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-cd-article-image aligncenter block--article-image block--article-image--article\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"><div class=\"block--article-image__column\"><div class=\"block--article-image__image\"><img class=\"lazy\" data-src=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/20220707_Kamlawati-wakes-her-son-up-to-help-her-bring-water.jpg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/20220707_Kamlawati-wakes-her-son-up-to-help-her-bring-water-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/20220707_Kamlawati-wakes-her-son-up-to-help-her-bring-water-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/20220707_Kamlawati-wakes-her-son-up-to-help-her-bring-water.jpg 2560w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 768px, (max-width: 1024px) 1024px, 2560px\" alt=\"Kamlawati wakes up one of her sons, who has been sleeping outside the house where it is cooler.\"\/><\/div><div class=\"block--article-image__content\"><div itemprop=\"caption\" class=\"block--article-image__caption\">Kamlawati wakes up one of her sons, who has been sleeping outside the house where it is cooler (Image: Jigyasa Mishra)<\/div><\/div><\/div><meta itemprop=\"contentUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/20220707_Kamlawati-wakes-her-son-up-to-help-her-bring-water.jpg\"\/><meta itemprop=\"contentSize\" content=\"2 MB\"\/><meta itemprop=\"height\" content=\"1707\"\/><meta itemprop=\"width\" content=\"2560\"\/><meta itemprop=\"author\"\/><meta itemprop=\"representativeOfPage\" content=\"true\"\/><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>When Kamlawati\u2019s husband, Raghunandan Yadav, is not busy looking after the family\u2019s livestock he accompanies her to the borewell, carrying the containers on his bicycle. Sometimes her sons help, but she is ultimately responsible for making sure the family has water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Yadav family live in Barua village in the Satna district of Bundelkhand \u2013&nbsp;a hilly, drought-prone region in central India that straddles Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh states. More than 18 million people live in Bundelkhand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2015, Anil Gupta, a division head at India\u2019s National Institute of Disaster Management, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.downtoearth.org.in\/blog\/bundelkhand-drought-miseries-and-hope-44680\">wrote that<\/a> in recent decades \u201cBundelkhand has become a synonym for drought, unemployment and perennial water stress.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-not-enough-water\">Not enough water<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>India\u2019s Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs <a href=\"https:\/\/pib.gov.in\/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1604871\">recommends<\/a> that in rural areas every person should have access to 55 litres of water a day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Between Kamlawati\u2019s family of five, her four buckets only provide about 29 litres per person per day \u2013&nbsp;nearly half the recommended minimum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is limited data on water scarcity, particularly its impact on women, in Bundelkhand. Sunil Kurmar Srivastav is the Chitrakoot district coordinator for <a href=\"http:\/\/abhiyan.net.in\/\">Abhiyan<\/a>, an NGO that works on issues including water management and the empowerment of women in the districts of Banda and Chitrakoot. He says that his organisation has no reliable data, and none is available from the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-cd-pull-quote block--pull-quote\"><div class=\"block--pull-quote__wrapper\"><blockquote class=\"block--pull-quote__quote\">Any area in Bundelkhand with water scarcity would have 60% to 70% of women bearing the brunt of the issue<\/blockquote><cite class=\"block--pull-quote__cite\">Kurmar Srivastav, Abhiyan<\/cite><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>But, he says, \u201cas per my observation, Manikpur belt of Chitrakoot would have around 70% women affected [by] acute water shortage. In fact, any area in Bundelkhand with water scarcity would have 60-70% women bearing the brunt of the issue.\u201d This is because the management of the home, in which water plays a key role, is considered to be women\u2019s responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Shubhrant Kumar Shukla, the Chitrakoot district magistrate (the highest administrative official in the district), tells The Third Pole that the Patha area of Chitrakoot is particularly water-stressed. The area, which is comprised of 50-60 gram panchayats (the governing units at a village level), has rocky, dry terrain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A management problem<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As climate change <a href=\"https:\/\/www.indiawaterportal.org\/articles\/reflection-multi-faceted-drought-bundelkhand-region\">alters<\/a> weather patterns, rainfall in Bundelkhand is also changing. Between 2013 and 2018, annual rainfall in the region <a href=\"https:\/\/2030wrg.org\/managing-bundelkhands-water-resources-a-lesson-from-history\/\">fell by 60%.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite this, in 2020 geologists <a href=\"https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/article\/10.1088\/1755-1315\/597\/1\/012024\/pdf\">concluded<\/a> that average rainfall in the region should be \u201csufficient\u201d. Yet Bundelkhand is marked by water scarcity, due to \u201cdifferent environmental factors such as rocky surface, high temperature, fast runoff of water, lowered groundwater table, and deforestation of the upper slopes\u201d, the researchers wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gunjan Mishra, an environmentalist based in Chitrakoot, highlights mining and rock type as contributing factors. Mining disrupts the pathways that let water percolate into underground aquifers. The rocky terrain adds to this problem, with rainwater becoming run-off and not recharging the groundwater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-cd-pull-quote block--pull-quote\"><div class=\"block--pull-quote__wrapper\"><blockquote class=\"block--pull-quote__quote\">The situation of underground water level has only deteriorated in Bundelkhand<\/blockquote><cite class=\"block--pull-quote__cite\">Gunjan Mishra, environmentalist<\/cite><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cLalitpur, Chitrakoot, Mahoba districts see no improvement in groundwater depletion [after the rains] because of the ongoing mining and hard rocks in the region. There are a few areas where farmers have built ponds [to store rainwater] but it helps increase the [groundwater] level only within a one-kilometre vicinity. So, we can say that the situation of underground water level has only deteriorated in the region,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kamlawati\u2019s family experiences this deterioration. Their village of Barua has a well and a hand pump, provided by the government. The villagers tell The Third Pole that both used to have water throughout the summer months, but that changed in 2009.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, between March and early April, Kamlawati can walk the 400 metres to the village hand pump. But \u201cits water dries up before April ends and stays this way until August or September\u201d, she says, leaving her family dependent on the goodwill of the household with a private borewell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-cd-article-image aligncenter block--article-image block--article-image--article\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"><div class=\"block--article-image__column\"><div class=\"block--article-image__image\"><img class=\"lazy\" data-src=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/20220707_kamlawati_s-husband-shows-how-far-they-go-to-bring-wate.jpg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/20220707_kamlawati_s-husband-shows-how-far-they-go-to-bring-wate-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/20220707_kamlawati_s-husband-shows-how-far-they-go-to-bring-wate-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/20220707_kamlawati_s-husband-shows-how-far-they-go-to-bring-wate.jpg 2560w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 768px, (max-width: 1024px) 1024px, 2560px\" alt=\"Raghunandan Yadav points to show how far away the family\u2019s source of water is during the summer months (Image: Jigyasa Mishra)\"\/><\/div><div class=\"block--article-image__content\"><div itemprop=\"caption\" class=\"block--article-image__caption\">Raghunandan Yadav points to show how far away the family\u2019s source of water is during the summer months (Image: Jigyasa Mishra)<\/div><\/div><\/div><meta itemprop=\"contentUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/20220707_kamlawati_s-husband-shows-how-far-they-go-to-bring-wate.jpg\"\/><meta itemprop=\"contentSize\" content=\"1 MB\"\/><meta itemprop=\"height\" content=\"1707\"\/><meta itemprop=\"width\" content=\"2560\"\/><meta itemprop=\"author\"\/><meta itemprop=\"representativeOfPage\" content=\"true\"\/><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Officials The Third Pole spoke with pointed out that they take steps to alleviate the situation in Bundelkhand. \u201cWe supply water tankers in 62 villages [in Chitrakoot], which move between hamlets, taking water to each one,\u201d says Shukla, the Chitrakoot district magistrate. \u201cThis begins from April and goes on till June until the monsoon arrives and the wells and pumps start functioning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Shukla adds that \u201cfor the longer-term solution, we are working for the \u2018Har Ghar Jal\u2019 [Water in Every Home] programme implemented by Jal Jeevan Mission under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, under which the pipelines work is ongoing and by the end of this year we will be able to supply piped water to every village, in and around Chitrakoot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Sanitation problems remain, despite government claims <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Water scarcity also affects access to <a href=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/tag\/health\/\">sanitation<\/a>. The government\u2019s data <a href=\"http:\/\/sbm.gov.in\/sbmdashboard\/ODF.aspx\">states<\/a> that Satna district, among other districts in Bundelkhand, is now free of open defecation. This does not match up with the lives of women The Third Pole speaks with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe do not even have a bathroom. Very few people in the village have. Why would we, when there is no water in the first place?\u201d Kamlawati says. \u201cEvery one of us goes to bathe at the well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-cd-article-image aligncenter block--article-image block--article-image--wide\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"><div class=\"block--article-image__column\"><div class=\"block--article-image__image\"><img class=\"lazy\" data-src=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/20220707_Bundelkhand_IMG_1499.jpg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/20220707_Bundelkhand_IMG_1499-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/20220707_Bundelkhand_IMG_1499-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/20220707_Bundelkhand_IMG_1499.jpg 2560w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 768px, (max-width: 1024px) 1024px, 2560px\" alt=\"Santo Devi bathes at the well in Michkurin village of Bundelkhand then (Image: Jigyasa Mishra)\"\/><\/div><div class=\"block--article-image__content\"><div itemprop=\"caption\" class=\"block--article-image__caption\">Santo Devi bathes at the well in Michkurin village, Bundelkhand (Image: Jigyasa Mishra)<\/div><\/div><\/div><meta itemprop=\"contentUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/20220707_Bundelkhand_IMG_1499.jpg\"\/><meta itemprop=\"contentSize\" content=\"3 MB\"\/><meta itemprop=\"height\" content=\"1707\"\/><meta itemprop=\"width\" content=\"2560\"\/><meta itemprop=\"author\"\/><meta itemprop=\"representativeOfPage\" content=\"true\"\/><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns has-columns-caption is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-cd-article-image aligncenter block--article-image block--article-image--article\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"><div class=\"block--article-image__column\"><div class=\"block--article-image__image\"><img class=\"lazy\" data-src=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/20220707_Santo-Devi-fetches-water-to-take-back-home.jpg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/20220707_Santo-Devi-fetches-water-to-take-back-home-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/20220707_Santo-Devi-fetches-water-to-take-back-home-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/20220707_Santo-Devi-fetches-water-to-take-back-home.jpg 2560w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 768px, (max-width: 1024px) 1024px, 2560px\" alt=\"The 72-year-old then hauls water up from a well\"\/><\/div><div class=\"block--article-image__content\"><div itemprop=\"caption\" class=\"block--article-image__caption\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><meta itemprop=\"contentUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/20220707_Santo-Devi-fetches-water-to-take-back-home.jpg\"\/><meta itemprop=\"contentSize\" content=\"2 MB\"\/><meta itemprop=\"height\" content=\"1707\"\/><meta itemprop=\"width\" content=\"2560\"\/><meta itemprop=\"author\"\/><meta itemprop=\"representativeOfPage\" content=\"true\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-cd-article-image aligncenter block--article-image block--article-image--article\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"><div class=\"block--article-image__column\"><div class=\"block--article-image__image\"><img class=\"lazy\" data-src=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/20220707_Bundelkhand_IMG_1509.jpg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/20220707_Bundelkhand_IMG_1509-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/20220707_Bundelkhand_IMG_1509-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/20220707_Bundelkhand_IMG_1509.jpg 2560w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 768px, (max-width: 1024px) 1024px, 2560px\" alt=\"foot of a woman filling up an old plastic container with water from a well\"\/><\/div><div class=\"block--article-image__content\"><div itemprop=\"caption\" class=\"block--article-image__caption\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><meta itemprop=\"contentUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/20220707_Bundelkhand_IMG_1509.jpg\"\/><meta itemprop=\"contentSize\" content=\"2 MB\"\/><meta itemprop=\"height\" content=\"1707\"\/><meta itemprop=\"width\" content=\"2560\"\/><meta itemprop=\"author\"\/><meta itemprop=\"representativeOfPage\" content=\"true\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figcaption class=\"wp-block-columns-caption\"><span class=\"wp-block-columns-caption__caption\">The 72-year-old then hauls the day\u2019s water up from the well, filling an old plastic container that originally held cooking oil (Image: Jigyasa Mishra)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Barely 10 kilometres away from Kamlawati\u2019s village, Santo Devi also walks half a kilometre every day to fetch water from a well. The 72-year-old says she once fell, slipping in the mud and fracturing her wrist when she went to relieve herself in a field during the monsoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Santo lives with her son and her daughter-in-law in Michkurin village. Their house is barely 100 metres away from the busy main road. Trucks pass through in the night, and there is danger of accidents, as well as fear of strange men.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMy <em>bahu <\/em>[daughter-in-law] can\u2019t go alone if she gets nature\u2019s call in the evening, night or even small hours. The place is not safe,\u201d she tells The Third Pole.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<a class=\"wp-block-cd-related-news alignright block--related-news loading\" data-post-id=\"20087287\"><div class=\"block--related-news__image\"><\/div><div class=\"block--related-news__content\"><span class=\"block--related-news__heading\">Recommended<\/span><span class=\"block--related-news__title\"><\/span><\/div><\/a>\n\n\n\n<p>The district magistrate blamed social conditioning for such situations. Shukla claimed that even when toilet facilities exist, \u201cthere have been nuclear families emerging who opt for open defecation. Moreover, it\u2019s a behavioural change and we now see positive change in 90% of people who used to defecate in the open till a few years back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the problems do not stop there. Kamlawati says that when her daughter is menstruating, she has to walk up to 2 kilometres to a hand pump to bathe and wash her sanitary cloth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cFrom day one to the fourth and sometimes even fifth, I have to walk four kilometres up and down, in pain, under the scorching sun. I cannot change the cloth here in our one-room house, nor can I wash it openly with the limited water we have at home\u2026 At times, I keep the same cloth on for hours when I am unable to walk due to unbearable cramps,\u201d says 15-year-old Anuradha, Kamlawati\u2019s daughter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-cd-article-image aligncenter block--article-image block--article-image--article\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"><div class=\"block--article-image__column\"><div class=\"block--article-image__image\"><img class=\"lazy\" data-src=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/20220707_Kamlawati-with-her-daughter-Anuradha.jpg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/20220707_Kamlawati-with-her-daughter-Anuradha-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/20220707_Kamlawati-with-her-daughter-Anuradha-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/20220707_Kamlawati-with-her-daughter-Anuradha.jpg 2560w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 768px, (max-width: 1024px) 1024px, 2560px\" alt=\"Kamlawati with her daughter Anuradha (Image: Jigyasa Mishra)\"\/><\/div><div class=\"block--article-image__content\"><div itemprop=\"caption\" class=\"block--article-image__caption\">Kamlawati with her daughter Anuradha (Image: Jigyasa Mishra)<\/div><\/div><\/div><meta itemprop=\"contentUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/20220707_Kamlawati-with-her-daughter-Anuradha.jpg\"\/><meta itemprop=\"contentSize\" content=\"2 MB\"\/><meta itemprop=\"height\" content=\"1707\"\/><meta itemprop=\"width\" content=\"2560\"\/><meta itemprop=\"author\"\/><meta itemprop=\"representativeOfPage\" content=\"true\"\/><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Rafiq Ansari is an obstetrician-gynaecologist at the district hospital in Chitrakoot. He says: \u201cReproductive health of women is anyway poor in the rural areas. When it is topped with extreme climate conditions, a pandemic and never-ending water crisis, the problem definitely hikes. Water unavailability compels them to do more labour and keeps [them] from maintaining hygiene.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Caste hierarchy adds to difficulties<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The problems of geography and gender are compounded by caste. \u201cThe family we go to take water from has their own [borewell] and they are kind enough to give us four buckets a day. Before this, we got our water from another family, one kilometre away. One day they started charging us 50 rupees [USD 0.70] for four buckets of water. They would not charge the Thakurs [who belong to a privileged caste] any amount, though,\u201d says Kamlawati. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kamlawati and her family are part of the other backward class group, one of the&nbsp;four broad socio-economic categories in <a href=\"https:\/\/bcmbcmw.tn.gov.in\/obc\/faq\/uttarpradesh.pdf\">India\u2019s official statistics<\/a>. Out of these four categories \u2013 scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, other backward classes and general category \u2013 only the last is considered to be \u201cupper caste\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-cd-article-image aligncenter block--article-image block--article-image--article\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"><div class=\"block--article-image__column\"><div class=\"block--article-image__image\"><img class=\"lazy\" data-src=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/20220707_Bundelkhand_IMG_1351.jpg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/20220707_Bundelkhand_IMG_1351-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/20220707_Bundelkhand_IMG_1351-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/20220707_Bundelkhand_IMG_1351.jpg 2560w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 768px, (max-width: 1024px) 1024px, 2560px\" alt=\"Raghunandan milks one of his buffaloes (Image: Jigyasa Mishra)\"\/><\/div><div class=\"block--article-image__content\"><div itemprop=\"caption\" class=\"block--article-image__caption\">Raghunandan milks one of his buffaloes (Image: Jigyasa Mishra)<\/div><\/div><\/div><meta itemprop=\"contentUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/20220707_Bundelkhand_IMG_1351.jpg\"\/><meta itemprop=\"contentSize\" content=\"2 MB\"\/><meta itemprop=\"height\" content=\"1707\"\/><meta itemprop=\"width\" content=\"2560\"\/><meta itemprop=\"author\"\/><meta itemprop=\"representativeOfPage\" content=\"true\"\/><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The family owns six buffalo, and depend on a local pond to water them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis is our only source of income,\u201d says Raghunandan, Kamalawati\u2019s husband, pointing at some fresh milk in a steel jar as he milks one of the cattle. \u201cI sell it for 30 rupees per litre. Which becomes\u2026 how much? 2,700 [USD 35] per month.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He finishes milking the buffalo and leaves to deliver his produce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Some of the names of those interviewed for this story have been changed to preserve their privacy<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Up to 70% of women in parts of the drought-prone region in central India are affected by acute water shortages, according to one NGO estimate<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20000283,"featured_media":20094258,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[50039900,50039903],"tags":[519,20000253,551,607],"hashtags":[],"country":[20000111],"class_list":["post-20094215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-justice","category-water","tag-climate-impacts","tag-gender","tag-health","tag-water-scarcity","country-india"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v26.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Women\u2019s lives get harder in Bundelkhand as water scarcity grows<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Up to 70% of women in parts of the drought-prone region in central India are affected by acute water shortages, according to one NGO estimate\" \/>\n<meta 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