Rural India runs dry as thirsty megacity Mumbai sucks water

Naveenwadi: Far from the high-rises of Mumbai, India’s financial capital, poor villages in the megacity’s water supply continue to dry up – a recurring crisis across the country that experts say points to a serious problem.
“The people of Sukabumi City are drinking our water, but no one there, including the government, is paying attention to us or our demand,” he said.
For the world’s densest population of 1.4 billion people, demand is rising but supply is shrinking – with climate change causing more rain and extreme heat.
Large-scale infrastructure for Sukabumi includes 100 kilometers (60 mi) of water reservoirs connected by canals and pipes.
But experts say a major planning failure has left the system out of touch with hundreds of rural villages in the region and several nearby districts.
Instead, they rely on conventional wells.
But demand outstrips scarce resources and groundwater levels are declining.
“We do four to six rounds for water every day … which leaves us time for other things.”
Climate change is altering weather patterns, causing longer and more severe droughts.
Wells dry quickly in extreme heat.
At the height of summer, Satgir, 35, said he can fetch water for up to six hours a day.
This year the temperature has soared above 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit).
Once the well runs dry, the village relies on government tankers for irregular supplies two or three times a week.
It brings untreated water from the river where people wash and animals graze.
Satgir’s home in the dusty village of Navinwadi, near the agricultural town of Shahapur, is 100 km from Mumbai’s busy roads.
According to the regional government, that area is the source of the main reservoir that supplies 60 percent of Sukabumi’s water.
Mumbai is the second and fastest growing city in India with a population of 22 million.
“All the water around us goes to the people in the big cities, and nothing has changed for us,” Satgir said.
Deputy Village Head Rupali Bhaskar Sadgir, 26, said residents often get sick from the water.
But that was their only chance.
“We have been asking the government for years to ensure that the water from the dam also reaches us.” “But it just got worse.”
Both at the state level and in New Delhi, government agencies say they are ready to tackle the problem and have announced several plans to tackle the water crisis.