Sunita Bhurbade, a resident of Tringalwadi, a tribal village 180km from Mumbai, spends up to five hours a day collecting drinking water for her family. This gruelling daily routine is a common reality for millions of women in India, who walk for miles every day to fetch water, balancing pots on their heads and carrying buckets in their hands.
Despite living in a region with heavy rainfall, Sunita and other women in her village have to travel long distances to fetch water, as nearby wells and water sources dry up for months at a time. This daily struggle not only takes a toll on their physical health, causing back and neck pain, fatigue, and weakness, but also prevents them from pursuing paid jobs.
According to a report by the World Health Organisation and Unicef, 1.8 billion people worldwide collect drinking water from off-premises sources, with women and girls primarily responsible for water collection in seven out of 10 households. In India, this need to secure drinking water is hindering economic growth, as women are unable to take up paid work due to their household responsibilities.
Experts suggest that if women were able to spend the time they currently devote to fetching water on paid activities, they could achieve financial independence and contribute significantly to the economy. The Indian government has been working to improve water infrastructure countrywide, with nearly 74% of rural households now having access to piped water.
While some, like Mangal Khadke, have experienced life-changing benefits from having tap water in their homes, there are still millions of women like Sunita and Indrayani Javarkar from Aaki village who continue to struggle to find and collect water every day. For them, access to clean drinking water remains a distant dream, perpetuating a cycle of lifelong obligation to fetch water.
As Sunita reflects on what she would do if she didn’t have to fetch water, she shares her love for singing – but even her songs are about water. The poignant lyrics, “Don’t cry my child, I am going to fetch water,” encapsulate the enduring reality faced by women like her across India.
