Context: Drought impacts on women in India are increased 13 times since 2005. Limited water access, malnutrition, migration & social behavior are major. Drought-affected districts in India have increased over the past half-century, with substantial consequences for society, particularly women.
For example, the challenge of fetching water from distant sources, combined with strenuous farm labor, is discouraging women in Marathwada from marrying men in water-scarce regions.
Major Impact
Between 2005 and 2019, the average number of drought-affected districts annually surged by 13 times.
Even now, both urban and rural India struggle with limited access to drinking water from taps. According to the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti, only six states have achieved 100% tap water coverage.
Impacts of water scarcity on women include:
- Crop loss and decreased farm income, resulting in long-term consequences such as malnutrition, mass migration, and shifts in social behavior.
- The declining returns from agriculture have forced women into wage labor. It also adds immense pressure to the health of rural women, who rarely have time to recover from illness or childbirth.
- Collecting water consumes time and causes physical strain, reducing the time available for agricultural tasks, ultimately affecting agricultural output.
- Many regions in the nation, including states like Maharashtra, are reliant on rain for agriculture and cultivate capital-intensive cash crops dependent on monsoons. Crop failures contribute significantly to rural distress, as evidenced by over 1,800 farmer suicides. In Maharashtra in 2022, according to the State Relief and Rehabilitation Department.
- Growing water scarcity has also influenced changes in marital practices. The National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) for 2019-20 reveals that nearly 44% of women in Beed district were married before the age of 18, nearly double the national average. Additionally, 15.2% of girls aged 15-19 were mothers or pregnant at the time of the survey.
