Karnataka - Bidar   

Water crisis in Aurad likely to worsen in coming months

By Our Staff Correspondent

BIDAR, APRIL 28. In the wadis and tandas of Aurad taluk, a common summer activity of children is to fetch water for their families.

The lack of a permanent source of water such as a river or a stream has ensured that Aurad suffers from a perennial drinking water crisis. What has compounded the problem is the lack of efforts by people's representatives to implement drinking water projects in the taluk.

The situation is no different this time and the taluk headquarters, Aurad, is the worst hit. Smaller settlements such as wadis and tandas of the taluk are also in the grip of a water crisis and the situation is expected to worsen in the coming months.

Work on the Tegumpur project to supply water to Aurad town remains incomplete, and the nine borewells in the town have to meet the water needs of all the people. The proposed project to bring water from the Manjra to the town is yet to come through.

However, the water crisis has had an unexpected fallout as about 20 women are earning a living by selling water to shops and hotels near the Aurad bus-stand. Kallavva and Sharanavva, two of the "water bearers," say that they earn Rs. 5 a pot. Two open wells are the only source of water for the area surrounding the bus-stand. Nearly 80 per cent of the 40 tandas in the taluk are hit by the water crisis and most of them are being supplied water through tankers. People, however, have their own complaints. "These tankers come only once in a day. But it is claimed that they have supplied water three or four times. This has added to our problems as the taluk administration feels that its efforts have been successful, though we continue to face a water crisis," people of Bheemanayak Tanda told The Hindu .

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