The WorldBank website just published a special feature on the water connections to home in Rural areas near Belgaum.
Geeta Bhogan remembers the time not so long ago when all 15 members of her husband’s extended family took turns to fetch water from the borewell a long distance from their home in Bekkinakeri village, in Karnataka’s Belgaum district. They would ride a bullock cart in groups of 4, making a number of trips a day to fetch the 50 pots of water they needed to survive, and to care for the family’s 5 cows and buffaloes. While these 2 km trips were difficult at the best of times, they were even more arduous in the searing summer heat of northern Karnataka. “The unfailing grind made the men late for work in the mornings and took a toll on everyone’s health,” Geeta recalls. “We fell sick more often due to this never-ending strain.”
Today, Bhogan’s family no longer needs to make this onerous journey. Thanks to the Karnataka Government’s Jal Nirmal Project, supported by the World Bank, the family now has a water connection within their home. 23 year old Geeta, near full term in her second pregnancy, is both relieved and happy. “Now we have a tap at our doorstep and have begun to get water for two hours each day,” she said with a smile.
The entire article can be read at