In the parish of Mundumala they made a human chain to demand measures from the public authorities. The drop in groundwater makes old wells useless and drinking water is increasingly expensive. The Christian writer Mithusilak Murmu declared to : “There has never been a shortage of fresh water here. Intensive fish farming in ponds is also one of the causes of the crisis.”
Rajshahi () – For the past two months, the Christians of the parish of Saint John Mary Vianney, in the town of Mundumala, have suffered from a lack of drinking water. For this reason, some fifty faithful made a human chain to ask for an intervention. They carried banners that read: “We want water to save our lives.”
Chichilia Hembrom, Catholic president of the Adivasi Mahali Bamboo Development Organization and the Barendra Region Youth Organization, explained: “To collect drinking water we have to travel one kilometer. Many times we cannot get water because it is not available. women face several problems, such as back and leg pain, to collect water from other sources. Today, purchased water can cost up to 300 thaka (about 3 euros), an unaffordable amount for people who make their living making products from cane and bamboo. And some 500 people from the town suffer from a serious water crisis.
Sontosh Hembrom, another Catholic, told that the drop in the level of groundwater and the alarming decrease in rainfall made the wells unusable. “We have to go to another town where there are water pumps for irrigation. The people of the ethnic group are in need and we don’t have the chance to buy these machines.”
The Christian writer Mithusilak Murmu told that until a few decades ago there was no shortage of fresh water in the Barendra region: “Each village had a well, which was the hope of the villagers. The peasants could drink the water from the ponds because it was clean and safe. Now they grow up fish in the ponds and are given food that makes the water unfit for public consumption. Now they are thinking of installing a motor to get fresh water, but charging for it: you have to spend more on food and water. This is becoming in the greatest challenge for the tribal and marginal communities of the Barendra area”.
The Christians called on the institutions involved to take effective measures by gathering public opinion and investigating the problem. After the human chain, a memorandum was handed over to the Rajshahi district commissioner calling for the rapid installation of deeper wells that marginalized people can access without paying a fee and the renovation of the ponds so that the water surface can be used for daily activities and agriculture.
