WOMEN, WATER AND LIFE
A. Selvamani (India)
Introduction:
Many early civilizations have flourished on river banks and perished in river floods.
Water is an essential resource for not only Human life but also flora and fauna. Water
water everywhere! On the contrary there is no water to drink. Water has become
politicized and commercialized nowadays. Multinational corporations exploit water toprepare soft drinks and for profit making. For the lack of water, the lives of poor
millions, especially, the so called poorest of poor Indian women face acute problems intheir daily lives.
India receives an annual rainfall 852mm of which a quarter goes to the sea and therest falls on the surface. Erratic rain fall and poor water management, including
relentless ground water extraction had led to water scarcity.
Water Problems:
Water is the main source of everything. If there is no food, we can live for many days
but if there is no water we cannot live for even a few days. In India, women are not only
carry out housework but are also involved in breadwinning for the entire family. If shegoes to work, she loses access to water. If she retrieves water, she loses a day's wages. So
the water problem becomes a woman's problem. In Salem District, 370,000 people live.
A person needs 83 liters of water for drinking and cleaning herself or himself. A woman
has to find water for the entire family's needs i.e., cooking, washing and cleaning. In
rural areas, potable drinking water is scares. In order to search and fetch water, women
have to walk more than two kilometers for one or two pots of water. If she is a dalit
woman, she faces the multiple problems of fetching water, while facing some times
abuse by high caste people. This is because the water resources i.e. wells, bore wells,also belong to the upper caste.
With all the above difficulties, if she fetches a pot of water, if would not be enough tomeet her personal as well as domestic needs. Last year, the Salem district received 11cmof rainfall. During this season, an acute water shortage took place. In the Salem district,
70 to 80 crore litters of water is wasted and simply falls into the gutter. Unsafe andcontaminated drinking water leads to many contagious sicknesses, such as, malaria,
diarrhea and jaundice and so on. Due to the scarcity of water, families are unable tomaintain personal cleanliness and hygienic problems occur. During menstruation
women face multiple health related problems like virginal diseases, bleeding, white
discharge, urinary and reproductive track infections, ultimately leading to mental
sickness as well. World Health Organization claimed women should be clean andhygienic during her menstruation period.
In rural areas, women are not using any sanitary napkins. They use ordinary clothes
during the time of menstruation. Every time they have to wash, dry and change them.
Since, there is a scarcity of water, she is unable to wash her clothes properly. Because ofthis situation, she faces health problems. When she is unclean, she can not go to work at
nearby houses. Moreover, she is not allowed to do other housework as it is considered adefilement.
In the village, men, women and children attend nature's call in the open. After
passing stools, they unable to wash themselves. Instead, they use small pebbles to wipethemselves. This also leads to bacterial and skin diseases. Therefore, water scarcity has
forced women to face major problems in their daily lives. Lack of water also is a problem
for food preparation. In that case, women are victims because they have to feed theirchildren and the entire family.
Unequal water distribution leads to conflicts with neighbouring family.
Water contaminated by agriculture pesticides and industry make it unsuitable forother applications as well. Vested interest-politicians and entrepreneurs exploit waterin urban areas. The municipal administration is responsible for supplying water to theurban population. Unfortunately, they do not have any clear policy concerning water for
their citizens. This in turn leads to malpractice and mismanagement of water. Water
has been sold to restaurants and hotels and some times for construction purposes.
Conclusion:
Water, the main source of life has not been privatised. Nobody has the right to own
water. Women's participation has to be ensured at all levels of water distribution policyand towards other water related issues. We borrowed these water resources from ourchildren and we have to return them intact.