Waiting for the water train in scorched Rajasthan

FP Staff • May 17, 2022, 14:34:19 IST

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A 40-wagon train — carrying some two million litres — is the only source of water for the thousands of people who live in Rajasthan’s Pali. The district has been suffering from an unbearable heatwave with temperatures exceeding 45 degrees Celsius

In Rajasthan’s Pali, every day dozens of villagers, mostly women and children, wait with blue plastic jerry cans and metal pots for a special train bringing precious water to people suffering a heatwave in India. AFP

This special 40-wagon train, carrying some two million litres, is the only source of water for thousands of people in the district. AFP

Water trains to Pali is not a new phenomenon. However, the shortage this year was already critical in April so they started early. The wagons – filled in Jodhpur, around 65 kilometres away – are first emptied into cement storage tanks, from which the water is sent to a treatment plant for filtering and distribution. AFP

As the train rolls in, many families choose to send their children to collect the water from the train, many of them missing school. AFP

Residents of Pali complain that they have no direct water to their homes and it is very hot. “What are we supposed to do if something happens to us while we walk up and down to fetch water?” said Laxmi, a woman collecting water. AFP

Hundreds of millions of people in South Asia have been sweltering in an early summer heatwave in recent weeks, with India seeing its warmest March on record. AFP

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