“Do Something”: Gujarat Village Demands Water Infrastructure

Everyday 62 year old Kaali makes a two kilometre long trek form her house to the community water well. Though she has spent a great deal of her married life walking this path, her bones, now old, can no longer take the ordeal. With no other option in sight she continues to fetch water. "What can I do? No one listens to us." Access to water in Parnala village of Limbdi Block Gujarat has become the root of much trouble for its 3000 odd residents. Bipin Solanki highlights some of the pressing problems through this video. "The residents of this village are absolutely tired with the apathy with which the water crisis has been dealt with. The lack of infrastructure to get piped water means that people waste time and lose employment opportunities. The burden is most heavy on women since they do a majority of the work to bring water for their houses" says Bipin. Located in the northern part of Gujarat the area is prone to droughts like the one that hit earlier in 2013. Each summer brings fights at the communal water sources like hand pumps and wells. Often water riots and protests have broken out demonstrating government apathy. The residents of Parnala have seen a lot of this apathy over the past years. In an effort to get the work on pipelines rolling, the residents started collecting funds. Most willingly contributed a sum of Rs 500 to the task-- anything to get running water in their homes. Doing nothing however seems to be the theme here. "The money was collected but then nothing happened after that. We have sat in a village council meeting and come to an agreement that work needs to be done. The council passed a resolution to this effect. Nothing happened. The Block Development Officer and Collector listen to our concerns very patiently but do nothing after this" says Ajeet Makwana a very exasperated village council member. So what now? Will Kaali and the other residents of Parnala have to wait much longer to get water? CC Bipin asks you to show support and call the below official. Call to Action: Please call Mr Shah, Block Development Officer, Limbadi, on 09712200857 and ask him to look into the matter immediately.
No Cards

A Call for Research on AI’s Role in Amplifying the Insights of the Systemically Unheard

 
/ January 14, 2025

The article argues that systematically ignoring and silencing the voices of the poor and marginalized worldwide does not serve society or democracy well and must be countered. While new technologies such as AI could provide an opportunity for change, we contend that these technologies need to account more effectively for...

Impact Story

How to Juggle a Career as a Community Correspondent as well a Mainstream Media Reporter

 
/ March 31, 2023

When the staff at Gannett newspapers in the US coined the term MOJO (Mobile Journalism) to describe new ways of gathering and distributing news using emerging technologies in 2005, they would not have imagined its virality and use ten years later.    Ask new media journalists and our Community Correspondents Shah...

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *