Click to play videoVillage 6AD, Bikaner: One would think at least the people living along the Indira Gandhi water canal in Rajasthan would have water, but they don't.
Harsingh Ram came to India as a refugee during the 1971 Indo-Pak war. He is one of the 30,000 Hindus who fled Pakistan fearing religious persecution.
In 1981, he, along with some other refugees were offered land in the barren desert called Marubhumi or the land of the dead, because water there is very scarce.
"When there is no water to drink, where would you find water to cultivate? I had paid Rs 15,000 but could not pay more, so I lost my land," says Harsingh.
During the initial years, Harsingh’s new village, 6AD, received the promised water from the Indira Gandhi Canal, but 1991 onwards, the supply kept reducing. Over the next decade it simply dried up.
“It was only the promise of water that had brought us here. If there was water, there would be development, but now there's nothing," says a resident of the village, Shravan Kumar.
Harsingh was allotted 25 bighas against a payment of Rs 30,000 but nothing has grown on it for years.
The feeders leading up to his land are clogged with sand and there is no work for miles.
Harsingh can barely feed himself or his family, let alone paying the installments for the land, which ended up in his allotment being cancelled.
After spending 15 years in a refugee camp, he was settled in 6AD village. His nine children were born here, but now he has been asked to leave again.
“Is it fair to be rendered a refugee again and again?” asks another 6AD resident, Jiyan Bai.
There is no water even in the command area of the Indira Gandhi Water Canal. Leave alone water for irrigation, even clean drinking water is a privilege.
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