 "2024 Lok Sabha elections: Chasing water dreams in Rajasthan hamlets")
In the unforgiving desert sun, a small group gathers under the scant shade of a lone Neem tree. Their eyes are fixed on a drilling machine boring through the arid land, a beacon of hope in the harsh landscape. This site, a stone’s throw from the bustling four-lane NH 25 that links Barmer, Jodhpur, and Beawar, symbolises a century-long struggle for water in the expanse of Thar, in Rajasthan.
As droplets of water splash onto the parched earth, the crowd of around 30 people erupts in joyous cheers: “Aagyo pani”. The villagers of Kandi, near Nokhra Bera, have just won their fight for water access after digging 183 meters deep, but a battle for safe drinking water continues.
“Even the mere sight of water is a blessing. Finally, my fields will have enough water for irrigation, though I still have a long journey ahead to secure access to safe drinking water at home,” says Abhijeet, a high school graduate, as he distributes milk cake to the bystanders.
Despite having a tap water connection for over a year through the government’s Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), Abhinav, who is planning to enrol in ALLEN Jodhpur for NEET preparation, says his village hasn’t received water yet. “The administration provided the connection but not the water,” he laments, noting, “this is despite our district being under the supervision of the water minister.”
The Jodhpur Lok Sabha constituency is represented by Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Union Jal Shakti minister. Under his stewardship, the ministry launched the Rs 3.6-trillion mission to provide free, piped water to every village home in India by 2024.
But of the 20 villages that Business Standard visited in the region, only six had access to the tap water supply provided under the JJM. In the villages with pipe connections under the JJM, water comes sometimes only once a week.
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In Kaparda village in Bilara Tehsil, Ratna Devi, a housewife, shares her daily struggles despite having a water connection. “Officials told me that their job is to install tanks and taps, not to bring water,” she sighs. With a tone tinged with despair and frustration, she continues: “I had hoped that Shekhawat would provide us with water, but he, too, has failed us.”
About 76 per cent of India’s 193 million rural households (as on April 24) have received tap connections, up from 32 million in 2019, according to a dashboard maintained by the nodal Jal Shakti Ministry. However, only 48 per cent of Rajasthan’s total 10,698,114 households have tap water connections. In Jodhpur, this figure stands at only 52 per cent.
The situation in Jodhpur city is no better, with residents complaining about low water pressure and the necessity to install pumps to access the water supply. People note that while the water connection itself may be free, they end up spending a lot on electricity to pump water.
“We have to use electric motors to get water. Water can never be free in Rajasthan; we will always have to spend to access it,” says Jodha Ram Kodwani, an 80-year-old hotel owner from Vinayak Nagar in Jodhpur.
While the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party highlights achievements like the Udan Mission and Ayushman Bharat, there is hardly any discussion about providing tap water to every household in Jodhpur. “Our minister only wants to win by highlighting work done by other departments because he didn’t do anything,” says Chima Ram, a farmer from Bawdi Tehsil, while selling onions in Jodhpur.
Expressing dissatisfaction with Shekhawat’s work, he says: “Jo apna nai pani na pila sakiyo vo desh nai kai pilavago (Who cannot provide his people with water, how will he provide water to the nation)?”
In Bhojwas village, where connections were provided three years ago, not even the pipes have been tested yet. “Water seems to have reached everywhere on paper, but not on the ground,” says Nathu Lal, a 50-year-old villager.
People in Khariya Meethapur village of Bilara tehsil of Jodhpur district not just complain of low pressure or scant availability of water, but also about salty water supply. “Only the name of our village has mithas (sweetness)… the water is salty, which cannot be used for drinking,” says Bangla Ram Seervi, a 60-year-old farmer, who buys drinking water from 20 km away.
Every month, households in the Thar desert area of Rajasthan typically spend approximately Rs 3,000 on drinking water. A single tanker carrying 5,000 litres of drinking water costs between Rs 600 and Rs 1,500. To meet their requirements, most households have installed water tanks with capacity of 20,000-50,000 litre, depending on the family size.
In the region, accessing underground water for irrigation is a formidable task. The groundwater level in Jodhpur stands at around 183 metres, plunging even deeper to 244 metres in Barmer. Each bore costs nearly Rs 1,150 per metre, compelling farmers to shell out between Rs 2,00,000 and Rs 3,00,000 for irrigation water.
Despite the steep cost of each bore, the region has witnessed an uptick in bore installations. IG Boring company, operating in Abhijeet’s fields, completes around 20 bores every month. Dharma Ram, an operator at the company, attributes this surge to the return of local migrants who resumed farming during the Covid-19 pandemic. “Our business thrives during the cultivation seasons, from April to June and October to November," says a beaming Ram, basking in the satisfaction of yet another successful bore.
People from western Rajasthan migrated across India due to the shortage of significant agricultural production and job opportunities. In the Jodhpur region, crops like fennel and wheat are cultivated. However, the presence of salty water limits production, for instance, around 200 kg of wheat is produced in one bigha.
The salty water not only hampers agricultural productivity but also adversely affects animal husbandry. “People do not want to marry their daughters into our areas because parents worry that they will have to struggle even to get water to drink,” says Bangla Ram, his voice tinged with anguish.
Bangla Ram and his seven cousins are yet to receive individual connections under the JJM. “We obtained permission from the panchayat and installed one connection from the water supply line at our own expense. The government has not provided any official connection yet,” explains Gajendra, Bangla Ram’s son, who runs a hardware shop in Bengaluru. “They say ‘Jal hai toh kal hai (if there is water today, there’s a tomorrow for us), but neither we have jal nor kal,” he adds, his sombre expression contrasting the situation with the provision of basic amenities by the Karnataka government.
Not everyone in Rajasthan is fortunate enough to have access to even salty water at home. Rani Devi, a migrant labourer from Madhya Pradesh, embarks on a daily trek of around 1 kilometre to reach a devasthan, a well equipped with a water connection, to fetch water for her family. Devi’s journey begins only after completing her daily shift; she is often accompanied by her 9-year-old daughter. With a 20 litre jar on her head and a five-litre can in hand, and a two-litre water bottle and a five-litre jar in her daughter’s hand, they make two trips daily to ensure an adequate supply for drinking and bathing. “I can only make two trips a day because it gets too dark after that,” Devi explains, visibly fatigued from her daily routine, walking towards her home 2 km away from the Rohat tehsil headquarter on Jodhpur-Pali NH 62.
When asked about the government’s initiative to provide free tap water under the JJM, she expresses dismay, stating, “I know nothing about any mission. For me, my tap is still 1 kilometre away from home.”
With the water crisis emerging as a major issue in Jodhpur ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, Shekhawat is blaming the previous Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government for stalling water projects under the JJM. “…Realising the gravity of the problem, the Modi government has started the construction of four reservoirs in Jodhpur to address the water crisis and Rs 1,400 crore has been allocated for the purpose,” he said in a recent public rally, claiming work would be completed in the next six months.