00:00To our continuing Get Real India series where we are looking at the drinking water crisis in several parts of
00:06the country.
00:07Today we travel to Madhya Pradesh once again to Dhar district where women are still climbing down a 50 foot
00:13ravine in scorching heat for finding a few drops of drinking water.
00:19Ravish Pal Singh has today's Get Real India story.
00:38These images are not from Utawa village in Madhya Pradesh's Dhar district.
00:43The Jaljiwan mission pipeline is here. Water is not.
00:48In searing 43 degree heat, women are forced to depend on water that seeps slowly through the cracks in the
00:56earth.
01:18Far from the village, at the bottom of the ravine, sits a tiny pit.
01:23This is where water collects.
01:26To understand the reality on the ground, India Today's Ravish Pal Singh took the same route these women travel every
01:33day.
01:53Water waits at the bottom is startling.
01:56There is no flowing stream.
01:59No functioning tap.
02:01Just water dripping one drop at a time.
02:27The women know the risks, but they also know they have no choice.
02:33The pipeline was laid two years ago.
02:36The promised water never arrived.
02:50The local MLA says the slogan of Harghar Nal, Harghar Jal, remains confined to speeches, while villagers continue to risk
02:59their lives for drinking water.
03:21The public health engineering department, however, says a 1.17 crore rupee Jaljiwan mission project was completed and handed over
03:30to the Gram Panchayal.
03:32Officials blame the shortage on falling groundwater levels.
03:56On paper, crores have been spent.
03:59On the ground, women are still climbing into a 50 foot ravine for water.
04:05In Ottawa, every drop tells a story.
04:09With Ravish Pal Singh, Bureau Report, India Today.
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