A narrow, broken road runs alongside Nattuthodu, a canal clogged with water hyacinth and mucky water. It leads to the 1,100-acre Ayyanad paddy polder, where golden yellow rice plants are almost ripe for harvest, in Pulinkunnu grama panchayat in Kuttanad region, Alappuzha. After working under the relentless sun, a small group of visibly exhausted labourers, some with muddy legs, have gathered on the veranda of their co-worker P. Shantha’s small single-storey house to catch their breath.
The middle-aged woman goes inside, returning with a jug of water and a couple of steel mugs. In a hushed tone, she says, “If the supply does not arrive, we will run out of drinking water by the evening.”
Shantha’s four-member family has been relying on private water supply for several years for drinking and cooking, whether in the rainy season or summer. There is no well or piped water system in the region.
