Amaraha, Patna: With each passing day, the drought situation in Bihar and Jharkhand is getting worse.
Villagers are getting more and more anxious with some resorting to desperate measures to try and minimise the impact of the drought .
"Water has dried up in most areas around the village. The water table has also fallen drastically in the area," said Umesh Kumar, villager.
With a single hand pump in Amraha for about 400 residents, caste politics is already muddying the simmering water war. The handpumps are mostly near upper caste homes and villagers say they are not allowed to use them.
"I'm not stopping anyone from drawing water here. But it is completely unfair of people to come here and take a bath," said Manju Devi, who has a pump near her house.
Blockades meanwhile are becoming common in neighbouring Jharkhand where farmers are demanding that they be included in the Below Poverty Line list so that they get benefits like cheaper grains and pulses, even though they don't qualify.