| An estimated 150 Million Woman Days and Rs 10 Billion are lost in India each year in fetching water. |
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Source: http://www.navdanya.org/earthdcracy/water/index.htm
Millions of women and children spend several hours a day collecting water from distant, often polluted sources. In many rural areas in India, women have to walk a distance of about 2.5 kms to reach the source of water. To get a bucket of drinking water is a struggle for most women in the country. The virtually dry and dead water resources have lead to acute water scarcity, affecting the socio-economic condition of the society. The drought conditions have pushed villagers to move to cities in search of jobs, whereas women and girls have to trudge further. Women in water-starved Bazargaon village in Vidarbha, Maharashtra, walk 15 km a day to fetch water. This time lost in fetching water can very well translate into financial gains, leading to a better life for the family. If opportunity costs were taken into account, it would be clear that in most rural areas, households are paying far more for water supply than the often-nominal rates charged in urban areas. Also, if this cost of fetching water which is almost equivalent. to 150 million women days each year, is covered into a loss for the national exchequer, it translates into a whopping 10 billion rupees per year. On an average, a rural woman walks more than 1400 km a year just to fetch water.
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