Around 200 villagers of Gantola have to suffer this ordeal every day for drinking water. Perhaps nowhere else in the country do people have to undergo such hardships for water as they do in this Thakur-dominated village 6,000 feet above sea level. It is not only grown up people but also children who crawl and carry heavy containers back to their homes on their heads. In fact, generations have exhausted their lives drawing water in this peculiar fashion. No one knows how there is water in the Gupt Ganga, so called because water lies hidden and is perennial.
Villagers believe that it is replenished by some unknown river stream meandering through hills.
As it is dark inside, the villagers have to carry torches or lamps. Nowadays, they have laid wooden planks on which they slide their filled vessels. As the area is surrounded by thick forests, the villagers have to be on their guard against wild animals, which can even hide inside the tunnel. Then, of course, there are the boulders with their razor-sharp edges. Yet another threat, especially during the rainy season when muddy water seeps into the tunnel from outside, is posed by water-borne diseases.