Pune: Looking at the acute water shortage faced by the people in the State, Mallikarjun Ingalgim, a resident of Ghorpadi, carried out a self-support cycle expedition from Pune to Akkalkot spreading awareness about water conservation.
The 300-km expedition was accomplished from April 2 to April 5. During the expedition, he travelled through 15- 20 villages and witnessed the pathetic condition of villagers without water.
Sharing his experiences, Ingalgim, an employee of Tata Motors, said, “While crossing Solapur, I saw a queue of around 100 women holding empty pots standing in the scorching heat near a tap, which had no drop of water. In another incident, I saw a man riding a bicycle, on which four children were holding heavy pots of water. While passing through Bhigwan, I saw farmers extracting groundwater. Till Bhigwan, greenery could be seen, but later, there was barren land.”
He said, “While speaking with villagers of Mohal, they said that they did not get water daily. Once in two days, a tanker distributes water to 800 households. A similar situation prevails in Guravwadi village in Akkalkot taluka.”
“While talking to the villagers, I gave them tips to save water such as not throwing away used water, practising rainwater harvesting and if the water is taken from a well, then it should be equally distributed,” Ingalgim added.
