Putuka village women depend on canal water

Summary of story published in Argus News TV (Odia)

Putuka village women depend on canal water

Climate change is having a profound effect on menstruation. During menstruation whether it is a sanitary napkin or cloth change, one has to travel six km by road to reach water in Putuka village

The words were surprising but true. Bargarh district of Odisha is one such place. In Putuka village (Padmapur Constituency), more women are pillion riders with their husbands taking them to a water source during their periods, rather than for an outing. The women of this village go to the river more often – it is the only ‘river of hope’ for them.

They used to travel only three kms to reach the river, now it is six kms. Women have noted that during the year, water flow has reduced and the water level of the river has also dropped. Every year, the temperature is rising and the women have noticed that even the mouth of the river has receded.

The women use cloth mostly rather than sanitary napkins, and therefore need to more water to clean the fabric. Since there no water at home, the cloth they use during their menstrual cycle is kept for two to three days without washing. They have to wait for an opportunity to travel to the rive-side to wash the soiled cloths.

Aarti Sahu is 32 and says: “It is now eight years since I left Putuka village; I don’t want to go back.” She has suffered very much during her periods and still had to go to wash her soiled  cloths in the river. “My daughter was also struggling with this problem even though she uses napkins. Even if you don’t use cloth, you still need water to clean yourself when you change sanitary pads!”

Dr Sujata Kar (Gynaecology and Obstetrics) says that women are unable to clean the menstrual cloths well, and so fungal infection is very high; also urinary tract infections are getting worse.

44-year-old Arundhati Sahu says, “I haven’t used sanitary napkins even once in my life,” adding that 80 percent of the village women use cloth because they are poor and cannot afford napkins every month. “Water is essential to wash the soiled cloth, and we must wash them every day, but this cannot happen because of the problems of water plus the embarrassment of asking our husbands to take us to the village river to wash them.”

According to psychologist Dr Sarita Balaji Behera, the lack of water for basic hygiene adds to the mental stress for the village women, especially during their menstrual cycles, which is already a stressful time to women.

Jayakrishna is an Environmentalist and cautions that the nature of the river will be affected over time because of usage, and the water is getting contaminated, but understands that the women have nowhere else to go.

This story is part of the ‘Mina Swaminathan Media Fellowship’ presented by MS Swaminathan Research Foundation to research and publish on ‘Gender Issues in Water Scarcity in India’.

This article was first broadcasted in Argus Digital on 25 February, 2024