While Tamaram is at work, it is the responsibility of his wife and daughters to collect water for their family. And in Rajasthan, this is no easy task.

Because the Thar Desert is mostly saline, most groundwater is unsuitable for drinking. Instead, many families in the region have to rely on open ponds or government-filled reservoir tanks for their water supply. But because the demand for water is so high (especially during the summer months) many of these reservoir tanks often stand empty and the ponds dry up.

To supplement their water supply during the dry season, Tamaram’s family pays to have water trucked in and stored in a kuccha tanka outside their home. Kuccha tankas are small, unlined pits in the ground that are surrounded by mud. Because these pits are poorly protected, much of the water either seeps into the ground or evaporates away. The water that remains is almost always contaminated, and many of Tamaram’s family members have fallen sick from drinking it.

Read the source article at blog.charitywater.org