Pitched battles for a pitcherful (The Pioneer 22 May 2010)

Water-related violence in Bundelkhand claims 5 in a week
 Last week, Chunia Devi (42) was thrashed in Guraula village of Chitrakoot district, Uttar Pradesh, because her cattle drank a bucketful of water belonging to her neighbour. She was admitted to hospital for three days and still walks with a limp.
 Sunder was beaten to death on May 17 by a mob in Ranipur village when he accidentally spilled a pitcher filled with water and refused to apologise.
Five-year-old Sushma died when two groups of people clashed over first use of hand pump in Nihi village in Manikpur. The child had come to quench her thirst when she received a fatal blow of lathi on her head.
 Tempers are running high in parched Bundelkhand, where it’s raining fire from the skies. High temperature during the peak summer has left all the water bodies — including ponds, tubewells and hand pumps — dry. With water turning out to be a scarce commodity, people are coming to blows even for drops.Police records say that five persons died in the last one week over water disputes. The dead include five-year-old Sushma who had gone to drink water from a hand pump.“There is a water riot in Bundelkhand. Hundreds of people get injured almost every day as incidents of scuffle over water are becoming common. And, mind you, not all of these incidents are reported,” a senior police official in Banda told The Pioneer.Bundelkhand, the south-west region of Uttar Pradesh, is water deficient. The importance of water can be gauged from a common couplet which, translated into English, says: “A woman loves her pitcher more than her husband; she prays her pitcher should not break even if her husband dies.”Water is scarce in the Chitrakoot region, which has a rocky base. The soil level is just a foot deep. Groundwater flows through the stone cleavage and collects in the pit, which could be a well or the base of a hand pump. “The trouble starts when villagers try to take that water out. They know if they fail, they will have to wait hours till the pit is filled again. This gives rise to melee which at times culminates into violence,” Bhagwat Prasad, the director of Akhil Bharatiya Sewa Sansthan, an NGO that works in the Manikpur region, said.In Cherrila Khurd village, people and animals gather at a well around 4 am. The news has spread that the well is 1/4th full. Ramesh Kumar comes with his bullock-cart carrying a drum to collect water. The water is black in colour and surely not fit for human consumption.“We only drink this water. We have no option,” says Ramesh as he continues pulling buckets full of water from the well to fill his drum. Rampal, the son of the village’s woman pradhan, Daushia, says there are 11 hand pumps in village and all of them are working. If that’s so, why this commotion? “These villagers are mad. They prefer water from well to that from hand pumps,” he says.Villagers, however, say only two of the hand pumps are working. Excessive boring has led to drying-up of wells as well as hand pumps, they maintain.In Guraula, villagers used to collect water from a traditional well, which the oldies say had never gone dry. Gajendra, 56, said since his birth he had always seen water there. This year the well has gone dry.The villagers blame this on a nearby tube well installed by Jal Sansthan. “It is just 100 metres from that well. The tube well has sucked all the water,” Gajendra said. He has petitioned the Chatrakut District Magistrate to un-instal the tube well. “Tube well works on electricity. No electricity means no water. And for how many hours we get electricity is no secret,” he said.