Kasrali, a small village located on the outskirts of Virar, 90 km from Mumbai, has set an example of sorts, as 2,000-odd locals have come forward to dig a 60-foot-wide and 40-foot-deep well — which wo
Kasrali, a small village located on the outskirts of Virar, 90 km from Mumbai, has set an example of sorts, as 2,000-odd locals have come forward to dig a 60-foot-wide and 40-foot-deep well — which would cost them Rs 23 lakh — rather than rely on the government to ward off the drinking water crisis. The villagers, in a bid to get rid of the tanker-village tag, will fund the project themselves, as the village has been perennially dependent on rainwater and tankers for drinking and other purposes for four decades.
The villagers will construct the well on land admeasuring 4,500 square feet offered to them by the Shree Ram Committee, a panel formed by villagers for the water project. They also decided to create an artificial pond, which would trap water flowing from a nearby hillock during the monsoon on another plot of land, measuring 85,000 square feet, which is adjacent to the newly constructed well. “This will ensure that the well is always full and supported by the adjacent pond,” said Kisan Kini of the committee. “We went house to house to collect the Rs 23 lakh, which was the cost for the project, and we would be offering shramdhaan (voluntary service) for the same,” said Jeet Ingle, another resident, adding, “We will also sell the fertile red soil that would be obtained while the digging the well as a source of additional revenue.”
Speaking about the ordeal the villagers used to face every year, Namrata Raje, a local, said, “The five wells in our village dry up in January each year and we will have to wait for the monsoons for the wells to fill up, and on tankers for to fulfil our daily needs. So, we decided to find a permanent solution to the crisis and came together to dig the well.” The next generation will not have to suffer the hardships we are undergoing in the search of water, she added.
