Faced with an acute water shortage, residents of over 20 villages in Madhya Pradesh's Bhind district are compelled to leave their home and hearth, and migrate with their livestock.
These villages are facing a major water crisis.
One can visualize the situation from residents' plight in Khadu Village, where the existing hand pumps have dried. People have no alternative but to travel at least 10 kilometers to arrange drinking water for their families.
It is getting bad to worse since villagers' livestock are also dying owing to scarcity of water.
Villagers expect the local authorities to find a solution to their plight or else the entire villages will be deserted.
"Our village and around 20 nearby villages do not have water. There is no hand pump. All of us are on the verge of migrating if the government does not come up with a solution. Half of the village has migrated and soon the rest will also leave," said Ramsingh Gurjar, a resident of Khadua Village.
"Animals are dying and we have abandoned them in such a pitiable state. There is no water for us. So how can we feed our animals?" he added.
However, as per the administration authorities, the District council is trying to supply water through tankers.
According to the Sub Divisional Magistrate, it is wrong impression that the people are migrating in large numbers. Villagers just have to travel a kilometer or two for water.
"The Municipal Council is supplying water through tankers. Canals are being dug to provide water to the villages. Basically the wells have dried because of which such problems have cropped up," said Vilas Rai Punjabi, Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Bhind.
While the government claims to have initiated several remedial measures, the deserted hamlets and parched lands denote exodus of the locals in quest of survival.
By Ashok Pal
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