Women take southern India’s drought into their own hands – one shovel at a time.
Sowbhagyamma is one of dozens of women working under the scorching sun every day to clear weeds, mud, and pebbles from a 6.5-acre plot in the Mandya District of southern Karnataka state, India.
Three thousand women are enrolled in the effort to revive lakes, ponds, and irrigation tanks in 31 villages across the district – crucial work in a region facing drought for the third year in a row, the worst in decades.
‘We have to do something and do it fast’ The women in Mandya decided to revive age-old methods of water storage, like desilting lakes and ponds, to replenish groundwater and ensure water for irrigation.
On any given day, about 30 women take to the waterbeds, now dry, using spades and shovels to dig up silt and mud.
But soon, people saw the value of what the 67-year-old woman was doing.
“But, we insisted that they should pay for work related to water bodies.
Their next fight was to get the authorities to pay them on time – which some women say continues to be a battle.
Women’s work?
“Instead of working on water bodies which help in the irrigation of lands, they should first work on those tanks that provide drinking water,” so women do not have to walk as many miles to fetch water, he says.