For many years now, Meribeni Kikon from Kohima, Nagaland has been a close witness to civil unrest as rebel factions and the state fought relentlessly against each other. The focus of the media in her area has been almost exclusively on and around this war. But this bloody specter veils some other realities; the state capital lacks basic infrastructure like…
In Kohima, state capital of Nagaland, there is no government water supply.
"I can't remember ever having water in the taps," says Meribeni. "This has been going on for 20-30 years. It's always been like this and nothing ever gets resolved."
In Meribeni's colony, she estimates about a quarter of the houses have a bought a private water connection. These households then sell water to their neighbours. "We have to carry it ourselves and come back. It's tough work."
It is very difficult to obtain a private water connection, and not everyone is lucky enough to be able to afford one. The water is usually sourced from other towns near Kohima, mostly from Jakhama. "If a pipe breaks or something, I can't tell you how much we would suffer," Meribeni told us.
Meribeni is bitter about how this issue is covered. She says everyone is tired of hearing about plans and wants to see results. The media tries to cover up the issue by discussing intentions of supplying the whole of Kohima with surplus water from Jakhama. "They are full of false promises."
She wants to use her video to convey the human tragedy of the situation. Like her friend mentions in the video, he can't do much else because he is almost constantly worrying about water. And as Meribeni says, water is a human right and she believes she should not be struggling so much to access it.
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