Water scarcity presents an immediate threat
to the lives and livelihoods of human communities in the Wakel River
Basin in southern Rajasthan. Subsistence farmers frequently experience
crop failure and livestock kills as a result of insufficient water
supply for agriculture. Women in the region have to walk several
kilometers daily just to obtain water for household uses, leaving them
little time to dedicate to income-generating activities. A lack of
sufficient control over groundwater pumping has resulted in inequitable
access to water as well as rapid depletion of existing supplies.
Problems with poor water quality, especially fluoride contamination,
are also common in many parts of the region and translate into health
problems for local communities.
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