In Dapurmal, an Adivasi village perched above Upper Vaitarna Dam, fetching water is not a household chore, but a daily expedition.
Dapurmal’s only local source of water is a rain-fed pit, which lies cracked and empty in summer.
When the village’s rainwater source dries up each summer, women and little girls must trek 6-8 km through steep terrain to collect their pots of water. These images trace that four-hour journey, from preparation at dawn to the exhausting climb home.
The descent to the dam is steep and unforgiving, over loose rocks and crumbling slopes, where every step towards the water source below carries the risk of a fall.
The girl pictured is one of many who bears this immense burden each day in a village surrounded by water, yet deprived of it
