Women climb down 50 feet ravine in scorching heat to fetch drinking water in Dhar

An India Today ground report from Utawa village in Madhya Pradesh's Dhar district highlights a severe drinking water crisis. Despite the installation of a pipeline under the central government's Jal Jeevan Mission two years ago, water has not reached the village. Residents, including women and children, are forced to descend a 50-foot rocky ravine daily in 43-degree Celsius heat to collect drinking water that slowly seeps through cracks in the earth. While local political representatives accuse the administration of corruption, officials from the Public Health Engineering Department attribute the crisis to depleted groundwater levels. The Rs 1.17 crore project remains complete only on paper as villagers continue to risk their lives.