Village women living in four parched hamlets of Nashik district have to make a midnight trek to their only source of water – a tiny pool. Sometimes, a few litres take all night
MAHISMAL (NASHIK DIST): Life has been a series of miserable summers for Paribai Waghmare. The 55-year-old hasn’t had a proper night’s sleep ever since she got married 30 years ago and moved to Mahismal, a Nashik hamlet. Every day is a punishing 2km trek through dirt and dry brush to a pit in which groundwater collects to form a pool. She fills about 10 litres in her steel vessels. After that, it’s an uphill haul home on foot. Sometimes, the expedition can take as much as five hours if another group gets there first.