Raj Kumar Jaiswal begins his day irritated. He needs water from the pump that often yields little water or none at all.
38-year-old Jaiswal lives in Pratapgarh district of southern Uttar Pradesh. He is among millions of people in this area of north-central India who face an acute groundwater shortfall because of droughts, scant monsoon rains or wasteful use of water.
"I now spend most of my day thinking whether we will get enough water tomorrow. Life has become hell, an everyday challenge now" Jaiswal said.
Jaiswal and his neighbours must travel to nearby villages that have expensive, government-subsidized Mark-II hand pumps, and bring back water over bumpy dirt roads and paths.
"You need to have connections to get an India Mark II hand pump installed at your door step. By normal process, it might take years. I have a bicycle which helps me fetch water," said Jaiswal, a typist at the local district court.
Hot weather, a dry climate, and sandy soil--make Pratapgarh district a tough land to survive.
In June, temperatures hit a blistering 45-47 degrees Celsius and the monsoon rains. During that time the pumps stop working because the underground water dries up further due to heat.
People in adjacent Chitrakoot district, walk miles to get water every day.
"People wasted water like anything, both in normal usage as well as during farming," said Ramakant Mishra, the village chief.
People who can afford water motors dig out the earth to about 10 feet deep and install their pumps, but they must keep digging one to two feet a year to keep up with the falling water level, the chief said.
Now, everyone has taken as much water as they could, and he worries that soon Pratapgarh will be completely dry.
"I have come across incidents where people are not marrying off their daughters in villages where there is no water" said Meera Jatav, editor of a Hindi rural newspaper.
Sunil Tripathi, a teacher and water conservation activist, said people don't understand the gravity of the problem. "The rich people have got pricey water equipment like submersible pumps installed in their households, and they think the problem is solved. They are only adding to the problem," he said.
Rajender Singh popularly known as "waterman" for his conservation efforts, said receding groundwater – affects 40 percent of the country and forces people to migrate to look for water.
"The problem has now aggravated to dangerous levels because earlier, the only source of water extraction were wells. Now, you have machines which can pull out water from as deep as 1,000 feet, making replenishment impossible even after good rains. Five years from now there will be no solution".
The 'waterman' blamed the state governments for not recognising the problem.
"You can see A-class water being given for irrigation to sugarcane farmers, whereas people are not getting even B or C-grade water for consumption," Singh said.
Some people must drink water from open pits and ponds. That water often is standing, stagnant or contaminated with bacteria, and can spread diseases such as cholera and gastroenteritis, Meera Jatav said.
