A pool of lies

“Baang,” she replies when asked if she drinks water from the handpump she’s standing next to. That’s ‘no’ in Lukhi Murmu’s native Santhali language. There is filthy water around the pump. A pig grunts nearby, stubborn enough to return when chased away, to forage on the rice left over from the washed utensils. “Water from all the handpumps in our village smells a lot,” she says. It’s the high iron content. We can’t help but go to the pond twice daily to collect drinking water.

Read Full Story>>