Tribal women brave fall risk in water walk on steep hillsides

Pune: Bhimashankar in Pune district, with an average rainfall of over 1,900 to 2,000mm in the monsoon, should hardly complain about water scarcity. But the summers here are so dry that hundreds of tribal women from remote hamlets descend the steep and rocky hillsides every morning to look for water to fill their vessels and then begin the hazardous climb on the tricky terrain with the pots on their heads.

In the tribal pockets of Ambegaon tehsil, Kondwal, Ahupe, Koldara, Falode, Rajpur and several more hamlets around the Bhimashankar forest region are battling an acute drinking water crisis. Many young men have migrated to the cities for livelihood, leaving behind the elderly and women to manage households and daily chores.

A dangerous daily ritual to get water for women has become essential for survival because their wells have no water and the hand pumps don’t bring up any. Women now walk long distances daily through forested hills and dangerous slopes to fetch a few pots of muddy water. It is the same in the hamlets in Naneghat and Malshiras regions of Junnar tehsil.

“We leave before sunrise because if we get late, the water is gone,” said 48-year-old Rakhamabai Waje from Kondwal village in Ambegaon tehsil, around 130 km from Pune city. For many women like her, the journey is not merely exhausting but life-threatening. “Sometimes, our feet slip while climbing with the water pot. If we fall into the valley, nobody will even know,” Waje added.

Tribal activist Budhaji Damse from Ambegaon tehsil said the district administration has failed to make on-the-ground arrangements to store rainwater in these tribal belts. “These hamlets receive huge amounts of rainfall during the monsoon but people, for years, have been struggling to get water in summer. Scientific water conservation work in these pockets is necessary to address this issue,” he added.

The ordeal has intensified this summer after rising temperatures depleted the already fragile water sources. In several hamlets, residents said water is available only once every two days. “ We go down the hillside to the valleys carrying empty vessels and return with pots with 20 to 25 litres of water on our heads. A small misstep or a slip can cost a life. We have no choice because there is no water in our hamlet,” Rukmini Bangale from Bangalewadi said.

Other residents said they need permanent drinking water infrastructure in the hilly tribal belt. While govt tankers occasionally reach some hamlets, many remote hamlets remain inaccessible because of poor roads and difficult terrain.

Women spend four to five hours every day collecting water, leaving little time for farming, wage labour or childcare. Children, especially girls, often accompany their mothers during the exhausting trips.

Mangala Bhoye, another resident of the hamlet, said, the entire day is spent finding water. “We cannot think about work, education or anything else. Getting water is our biggest struggle,” she added.

Villagers also fear health consequences. The stagnant water collected from small rock pits and seasonal streams is often contaminated, increasing the risk of diarrhoea, skin infections and other diseases during peak summer.

Activists and residents say the recurring crisis reflects years of neglect despite repeated demands for permanent water supply schemes.

“Every summer, we face the same situation, but there is still no sustainable solution. Pipeline projects, storage tanks and watershed works are either incomplete or never reach the interior hamlets,” Digambar Bhalchim, former sarpanch of Malin village, said.

Residents are demanding immediate tanker supply, restoration of defunct borewells and long-term watershed and rainwater harvesting projects before the monsoon arrives.