The fact that India is standing at the brink of impending water scarcity is known to all. Several reports over the years have articulated the poor state of the country’s water resources.
According to the Composite Water Management Index (CWMI) report released by the Niti Aayog in 2018, 21 major cities, including Delhi, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad amongst others will likely reach zero groundwater levels by 2020. This is expected to affect around 100 million people when it comes to access to clean water.
What is more alarming is that 12 % of India’s population is already living the ‘Day Zero’ scenario thanks to inefficient pipeline management, excessive wastage of water and deficient rains over the years.
The Poor Bear The Brunt Of Water Shortages In The Country
As is the case with most things, it is the less privileged that have to bear the brunt of India’s lack of water availability. India has more people living in rural areas who live without access to clean water than any other region in the country. The State of the World’s Water 2017 revealed that as many as 63.4 million Indians don’t have access to clean water, putting the country’s most vulnerable groups at further risk.
Not only that, but the water supplied to these rural areas also comes with its own set of problems. A Lok Sabha answer revealed that water supply in rural areas was contaminated with substances like iron, arsenic and fluoride, all of which are known to cause harmful diseases such as skin lesions and cancer.
Women Are Hit Hardest By Water Shortages In India
In this dire situation, when water isn’t readily available, Indian women seem to get the short straw. Water forms an integral part of menstrual hygiene management. It is an essential resource that allows women to manage menstruation with hygiene and dignity.
The importance of access to water for menstruating women can’t be emphasized enough. Access to clean handwashing facilities and toilets allows women to keep themselves clean during menstruation. Simply put, safe water is vital to sanitation.
However, millions of women in India don’t have access to clean water, which is proving to be problematic for them on a variety of fronts.
“Women all over the world without access to basic sanitation and safe water struggle to keep themselves clean, especially during menstruation,” Lizzy MacRae Garvin, Lifewater International’s WASH Program Officer to Uganda, said.
Due to the lack of clean water, families in villages have to walk miles in search of water. Sadly, this responsibility is given to the women of the family. On average, a rural woman walks 5 kilometres to 20 kilometres a day to fetch water for her household.
At a time when a woman should be taking proper care of herself, maintaining hygiene and sanitation, making long, arduous journeys in search of clean water acts detrimental to their health. The physical burden of carrying water comes with its own sets of problems. It can lead to increased health risks, such as uterine prolapse, musculoskeletal issues, and stress.
Access to clean water is also crucial for women’s safety. Due to the lack of water in their homes, women either walk long distances or go out to relieve themselves during the night. As a result, water collection points or the journey traversed in the search for water, act as hotspots for harassment, violence and sometimes even rape of these women.
Women and girls often go the whole day without food and water, to wait till the night as the darkness provides them with some sort of privacy But this poses a threat to their safety, exposing them to acts of violence. The lack of water, therefore, puts Women at risk of physical attack, or even abuse.
Why Water Matters For Menstruating Women
“Lack of access to clean water has a cyclical impact on menstruating women. A simple example could be this. Women in rural areas usually use a cloth during menstruation. They use this cloth multiple times, resorting to washing and drying it again and again. Now, if a woman doesn’t get access to clean water, she washes the cloth with contaminated water or worse, doesn’t wash it at all. What anyway wasn’t the ideal product to use during menstruation just got more dangerous as it carries a higher risk of infection now” said Ajita, someone who has worked with women in rural areas all over the country.
Another way lack of availability of water acts as an impediment for women is when it is combined with a lack of toilets. Sixty-three million adolescent Indian girls are living in homes without toilets. An article by WaterAid expounded how Indian women risk rape in their search for toilets in rural India.
Therefore, it is alarming to see that even in dire circumstances where communities don’t have access to water, women are facing the worst possible situations. It is imperative to understand that access to clean water is a fundamental right, and adequate steps are needed to ensure that women get their due when it comes to clean and safe water in the country.
The author is a part of the current batch of the #PeriodParGyan Writer’s Training Program