Dalits of Gaya untouched by water

Gaya (Bihar): Kamla Devi is aMushahar, one of the most backward castes in Bihar. She lost her mother recently - her mother died of thirst.

"She was asking for water but we have to go really far to fetch it. By the time I went to get water, my mother had died," says Kamla Devi.

For the dalits of Padri village in Gaya district of Bihar, water is a distant dream.

It is more precious than gold and every drop has its worth for the villagers, but getting water here is not easy as these villagers are considered untouchables.

There is water pump in the neighbouring village but the upper caste village keeps these dalits away from their water resources.

The Mushahars are not just backward but untouchables too. There is only one well in this village but it no longer contains drinkable water.

"The water in the well is infested with insects and is very dirty. How will we drink it when even the animals don’t touch it," says a resident of Padri, Mangia Devi.

There aren’t any taps either in Padri. Villagers have to walk at least 3 km to get water.

There's a hand pump in the neighbourhood, but it belongs to the upper castes - a forbidden territory for Mushahars.

"The upper castes throw away our buckets whenever we go to fill water. We are untouchables and there is no arrangement of water for us here," says another resident of Padri, Siban Nao.

"They consider us to be lower caste so they don’t let us take water form," says Meena Devi, Resident, Padri.

Kamla has lost her mother, but she has no time to grief. Her immediate concern is about the long summer ahead and the even longer walks for a bucket of water.

(With inputs from Arunoday Mukharji)

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