NEW DELHI — A grim report from NITI Aayog warns that nearly 600 million Indians are living under high to extreme water stress, even as devastating floods sweep across various states. The report underscores the profound national paradox, estimating that around 200,000 people die each year due to a lack of safe water. This crisis is particularly acute in major cities like Delhi, Bengaluru, and Chennai, where severe shortages worsen despite deluges elsewhere.
The Gendered Burden of Water Scarcity
The daily struggle for water is overwhelmingly borne by women and girls, a task deeply ingrained in patriarchal social norms. The National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) reveals that in about 71% of rural households, women aged 15 and above are solely responsible for water collection.
These women annually walk an average of 173 kilometres equating to nearly 27 full days lost to water collection. This physical burden is linked to chronic weariness and physical pain, while the long, remote treks increase the risk of harassment and assault. Furthermore, the time spent collecting water prevents women and girls from pursuing education and income-generating opportunities.
Urban Costs In Delhi, a Greenpeace India survey found that low-income households spend nearly 15 per cent of their monthly income just to secure safe drinking water, relying on expensive, temporary tanker services.
Extreme Adaptation: The Phenomenon of ‘Water Wives’
The gravity of the crisis is exemplified by highly regressive social adaptations. In some drought-prone hamlets in Maharashtra, a phenomenon known as ‘water wives’ has emerged. Here, men marry additional women often widows or unmarried women for the sole purpose of ensuring there are enough people to collect water for the family.
While this pragmatic arrangement provides the women with shelter, they are relegated to water fetching as their only duty, often denied basic rights such as inheritance or conjugal life. This practice is seen as a deeply regressive adaptation that reinforces gender inequality and undermines the identities of these women.
Compounding Risk in Disaster
The challenges facing women are compounded during flood disasters. Data from the Food and Agriculture Organization shows that female-headed rural households lose three per cent more income to floods than their male-headed counterparts. In regions like rural Assam, women are often left to manage household survival alone as men migrate for work.
In urban settings like Chennai, policy failures during floods subject women to severe privacy and safety risks when sanitation and infrastructure are compromised. The overall findings suggest that in patriarchal societies, women bear the societal and economic costs of environmental disturbances, in addition to the direct physical burden.