Running tap water

News article - my thoughts
"Surprised by the sight of running tap water", said some students who are currently in Pune city. These unfortunate students are daughters of some farmers who committed suicide, in the draught hit areas of Maharashtra, who have been brought to the city by an NGO, under a rehabilitation program. That remark set me thinking. Continuous draught conditions for last few years combined with burden of high loans, and daily inability to fill stomachs at home, is what finally breaks the farmer forcing him to take the extreme step. His family, consisting of his wife and children and sometimes his aged parents, have to suddenly cope with the  big loss, in addition to the already existing problems , which pushed the farmer to suicide. Hence the NGO is working for rehabilitation of the next generation of these farmers, hence the students are in the city.
Now, the running water in taps is mainly due to water distribution initiatives taken by the government to provide water to cities by building water storage facilities on the outskirts of the city and then bringing that water to the city by laying pipelines. So if this is possible in the cities then why not in villages. Well, for one, in the villages the water is not only required for the activities like drinking, cleaning and washing, but also for the very critical task of agriculture. The only solution I feel, is that the government should consider a village in the same scale as a city, and provide water works on the same scale. If in a city, the water is for the huge population which resides in the high rises as well as the slums, in a village it will be for the fields as well as the small populations. The money for the same can come from  rich corporates and individuals, who should be motivated to contribute, by providing them with some tax sops.
Only then, will there be some sort of support mechanism for the farmers, who have to currently fight on many fronts. But will this be possible, what with many dams being under construction for so many years, with only the many fold increase in costs and no progress on the ground. But I am sure all these problems will be resolved over a period of time and theses students will see running water in their village homes and in their fields.
Yatin