00:00Okay let's turn to our Get Real India story. Somewhere in the hills of Chhattisgarh, women still walk treacherous mountain
00:08paths twice a day for just a bucket of water. Children are falling sick drinking from a stream that they
00:17have to share with animals. And for the people of Maspur, clean drinking water remains a distant promise.
00:25Sumi Rajappan has tonight's Get Real India story.
00:55Maspur does not seem very far. But distances in these mountains are measured differently. What follows is a punishing climb
01:04across rocks, steep slopes and unforgiving terrain. A journey villagers make every day.
01:11We have just started the trek of this small mountain. And it's a 3 to 3.5 kilometer long stretch
01:20and trek that we have to do. The administration regrettably couldn't do this needful measure just to give the people
01:29what they needed all these years.
01:31And in this heat wave, how they're arranging for the drinking water is somehow a story that we're going to
01:38tell.
01:38For Subey Singh Usendi, this isn't a trek. It is the only road home. The path that brings ration. The
01:48path that carries patience. What feels extraordinary to most is routine in Maspur.
02:14The electricity poles took years to reach Maspur. Electricity itself still hasn't.
02:22The poles stand across the hillside like promises waiting to be fulfilled.
02:29As evening falls, the women of Maspur begin another journey. Not for work, not for cooking, but for water. Twice
02:38a day, every day.
02:40We follow them to the village's only reliable source. A small pool trapped between rocks.
02:52Stagnant water lies nearby. Yet, this is what the village depends on.
03:04Mothers say, children frequently fall sick after drinking this water.
03:09When the rains arrive, even this source turns muddy.
03:30The elderly women here say they have been drinking from this stream since 1975. Villagers say they have approached officials
03:39repeatedly.
03:53Authorities assure health.
04:11The people of Maspur are now asking for miracles. They are asking for something basic. A glass of clean drinking
04:19water.
04:20Visumi Rajappan, Bureau Report, India Today.
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