Bihar, where water's divided on basis of caste

WATER WOES: Muslims, backward castes and upper castes all have separate wells in Bihar's Vaishali district.

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Keywords: Vaishali, Bihar

Hazipur : It’s a known fact that in some areas of Bihar, people from different castes live in separate colonies. But the caste divide doesn't end there. Now water too is being divided on the basis of caste.

Kulhara village in Bihar's Vaishali district has six drinking water wells. And in the scorching summer, Janpatia Devi's family doesn't have a drop to drink. That's because she is a Dalit, and the well in the village meant only for her community has gone dry.

Wells — the only source of drinking water in this village — are divided on the basis of caste. but Dalits get the worst deal.

“The water is not potable at all. It is dirty but we have no other choice,” Sunita Devi, a distraught villager, says.

And dry wells mean a half-kilometre trek to nearby villages to fetch water.

“There are three wells. One well’s water is not potable and people don’t let us draw water from the other two. I went there yesterday but they threw my bucket,” Binda Devi, another villager, says.

With nothing being done so far to stop this mindless division, caste has also coloured the village waters.

(With Sudhir Patel in Vaishali)