Quest for Safe Water in One of India ’s Most Isolated Villages

Simita Devi, whose daughter spent days in hospital recently suffering from typhoid caused by contaminated water, collects clean water brought to the surface by a solar pump. Credit: Umar Manzoor Shah/IPSBy Umar Manzoor ShahChampad, India, Jul 4 2023 (IPS) Simita Devi spent over ten days in a government-run hospital a year ago anxiously watching her critically ill nine-year-old daughter, Gudiya, who was diagnosed with typhoid. Gudiya was so sick she even went into a coma for a day. Medical staff attending to the child said she contracted the disease from drinking contaminated water. After being discharged, Devi’s main worry was to get safe drinking water for her ailing daughter. She was advised not to consume water from village wells or untested sources like river streams or springs. Hailing from Champad, a tribal village in India’s Jharkhand state, Devi works as a daily wage labourer alongside her husband. With a limited income, Devi couldn’t afford packaged drinking water for her daughter. She then decided to boil the water using firewood to make it safe to drink. But to get the firewood, she had to trek the treacherous terrains of the nearby forests – a long, difficult work and the fear of wild animals loomed. It was not Devi alone impacted by contaminated water, it was making many people in her village ill, and there was nothing the inhabitants could do about it. According to government records, 80% of India’s rural drinking water comes from underground sources....
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Asia-Pacific Civil Society Development & Aid Editors' Choice Featured Headlines Health TerraViva United Nations India IPS UN Bureau IPS UN Bureau Report Source Type: news