'Water women' quench thirst of central India's parched villages

Aug 28, 2019

A village woman carries a container filled with drinking water supplied by the government-run water tanker at Charanka village in the western Indian state of Gujarat August 5, 2012. Armed with the latest monsoon rainfall data, weather experts finally conceded this month that India is facing a drought, confirming what millions of livestock farmers around the country had known for weeks. Picture taken August 5, 2012. To match feature INDIA-DROUGHT/ REUTERS/Ahmad Masood (INDIA - Tags: ENVIRONMENT SOCIETY AGRICULTURE BUSINESS) - GM2E88D0H8P01

Rivers, reservoirs and wells are all going dry across a region of 20 million people. Image: REUTERS/Ahmad Masood

Annie Banerji

South Asia Corrospondent, Thomson Reuters Foundation

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Kiran Aherwal, a Jal Saheli, or a woman water friend, supervises the making of a water outlet in Agroutha village of Bundelkhand, India. Image: Thomson Reuters Foundation/Annie Banerji

A Jal Saheli, or woman water friend, balances a container full of gravel to construct a new check dam in Agroutha village of Bundelkhand, India on July 16, 2019.

A Jal Saheli, or woman water friend, balances a container full of gravel to construct a new check dam in Agroutha village of Bundelkhand, India. Image: Thomson Reuters Foundation/Annie Banerji

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A girl cleans her metal water pots in Bundelkhand, India on July 16, 2019.

A girl cleans her metal water pots in Bundelkhand, India. Image: Thomson Reuters Foundation/Annie Banerji

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