 "Jhunjhunu")
Just opposite the highway leading to the Jhunjhunu district headquarters lies the hamlet of Pratappura. It is indistinguishable from the thousands of small dwellings that dot the countryside, but for the chasm between the upper and lower castes in this Jat-dominated area.
The divide has widened after the sole source of drinking water, a community well sunk 50 years ago, was dredged last year. The water rose and so did the distance between the two castes in the village.
"The village well was drying up due to falling groundwater. Hence, we dug it up again. But to ensure that supplies last, we are rationing water," said Rohtas Kumar Chaudhury, a sort of village headman.
With a small grocery and a middle school, Kumar is among the few influential persons in the village who has responsibility for maintaining the community well.
"In summers, we usually draw water from the well for three hours a day, which reduces when the monsoon comes. This year, due to scanty rains, there has been no reduction," Chaudhury said, pointing to the minarets that make the pillars on which the well's pulley rests.
Water from the well is stored in a large tank on high ground to keep water flowing even without power. "We need three-phase power to draw water from this well but seldom get it at a stretch. We built this tank to store water for emergencies," he explained.
The well and the tank are connected to each of the 350-odd houses in the area but through two separate pipes for castes. "There is no enmity between the two communities in this village and we all live peacefully," Chaudhury said in hushed voice.
A monsoon revival might have saved the standing crop but is not enough to fill the drinking water wells in the Jhunjhunu-Khetri belt of Rajasthan. The state, with 10.5 per cent of India's area and 5.6 per cent of its population, has only 1.15 per cent of the groundwater.
A government programme for clean drinking water called the Aapni Jal Yojana promises change but as with most such schemes, there is no deadline. The previous Ashok Gehlot government had sanctioned the project, which is being continued by Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.
Raje raised the allocation for drinking water projects to Rs 2,460 crore in July's Budget, with a special focus on completing 67 pending projects. A Rajasthan River Basin Authority has been also proposed.
"Aapni Jal promises to solve the drinking water problem of this area once and for all, but when one does not know," said 50-year-old Bhojaram of nearby Charanwas village, the rattling names of politicians who had claimed proprietary rights over the scheme.
In Jhunjhunu town itself, drinking water has been rationed as water in surrounding wells is falling. The town used to get a part of its water from two large tanks in which rainwater was collected.
"A few years ago, a city official dug a canal to dump the city's sludge into these tanks. Since then, both have become unusable," said Atmaram from the nearby Muni Ashram. The green algae that dot the once concrete slide through which cattle drank water is testimony to how traditional water sources are allowed to die.
"Almost 60 per cent of India gets its irrigation water from groundwater sources. In rural areas, almost 85 per cent of the drinking water comes from underground. So, when rains are scant, irrigation and drinking water crises happen," said Himanshu Thakker, coordinator for the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People, an informal network of organisations and individuals working on issues related with water.
He said in areas where fields are irrigated by water from dams, the authorities give preference to drinking needs when rainfall is low, which usually delays sowing. A report showed the central government spent Rs 62,000 crore on rural drinking water and sanitation between 2000 and 2012. The report said despite big spending by the Centre and states since 2004-05, outcomes have been miserable. "Only 18 per cent of rural households have access to safe drinking water, sanitation and electricity," it said.
No one knows it better than Hoshiyar Singh, another farmer from Charanwas. "We can't dredge our tubewells as the entire Jhunjhunu and Khetri region has been declared a "dark zone", which prevents indiscriminate dredging. But if we don't dig deep, water will become undrinkable," Singh said.
His three-acre farm at the entry to the village was once the envy of others due to its fertility but in the past three to four years, yields have gone down due to a falling water table. "The entire village's waste flows into my farm and despite that, my yields are falling," Singh said. A small stream of waste pours into his land.
Some like 66-year-old Harish Chandra from Balwantpur village have been compelled to adopt other ways to cut cost. He has asked family members to work in the fields to cut labour costs. "We earn little if I employ labour from outside on my two-acre farm. I have asked my family to help," Chandra said. His mother, daughter-in-law and son nod grudgingly.
