In the arid landscapes of Rajasthan, India, a crisis silently unfolds—that of dwindling water sources and the slow but sure desertification of land that was once fertile. While some parts of the world grapple with the threat of melting glaciers and rising sea levels, the communities here face a different battle. One that is characterized by parched lands, cracked earth, acute water scarcity and relentless droughts. And the story has been repeating with increasing intensity, year after year!

In rural India, where people are dependent on groundwater or weekly municipal water supply, getting fresh water every day is a major household chore, mostly shouldered by women. On an average, it takes about three hours to fetch water to meet the needs of a family of four - a rough estimate for when the water source is within a 2 to 5 km radius.

Ambuja Foundation has partnered with NABARD to implement the Bari Watershed Development Project in Ropar district of Punjab. With the success of a pilot capacity building programme in 2020, the partnership continued with a watershed initiative.

Ambuja Foundation kicked off a month-long campaign (21st February – 22nd March) promoting water resource management across locations, with team preparing various activities in the communities to engage and educate children, youth, women and farmers.

In a vast developing country like India with deeply entrenched gender divides, the words ‘water’ and ‘women’ are synonymous with one another. For it is on the shoulders of the women of the family, where the responsibility of collecting water, rests. And as water becomes more and more scarce, it is a heavy, and unfair burden to bear – particularly with its impacts exacerbated by the consequences of climate change. As water scarcity, heatwaves and droughts become more widespread, women and girls find themselves walking greater distances to fetch water.

In the terrain of Darlaghat, water is the most common challenge due to the pressing issues of soil erosion, eradication of the green cover, and reduction in agricultural produces in the hills. To address these issues, Ambuja Foundation collaborated with NABARD and developed a Ridge to Valley approach and worked on proper management of agriculture land and drinking water availability.

When people talk about India’s water crisis, stark images of the deserts of Rajasthan and the dry, dusty interiors of Maharashtra come to mind. But India’s water woes are relentless—leaving no corner of the country untouched in its wake.

Water conservation is the need of the hour, as India’s water crisis deepens and the impacts of climate change create more and more uncertainty – particularly in India’s vulnerable rural and remote interiors, where poverty is rife.

Ambuja Foundation is putting rural water at the top of its agenda, in a heightened effort to highlight the imperative of this issue for rural sustainability and overall national prosperity.

“When you visit a village in Rajasthan, you are bound to find a pond close by. One of the most ancient and traditional structures for rainwater harvesting, there are about 83,000 ponds in Rajasthan.

"I was completing my graduation and had my sights set on a government job when my father passed away and our family fell into financial crisis. Being an educated person, what would people say if I simply join agriculture? But with no other choice at the time, I thought let me put my mind to good use in farming and support my family of 9.

“We noticed cases of stomach and digestive ailments coming into the Health Clinic so we decided to test the water.