This man has 48 borewells, but not a drop to drink. Know why

Safe drinking water is a basic human need. In India, those living in the urban cities enjoy the luxury of drinking treated water that flows directly into their households. On the other hand, a large population of rural Indians still lacks reliable access to this precious resource. And Vishwambar Jagtap is one of those who fall in the unfortunate group.

This pomegranate farmer is a local celebrity in drought-hit Beed region of Maharashtra. Jagtap has as many as 48 borewells on his farm and due to this the local villagers know him as the "borewell man", an Economic Times report said. Some of these go as deep as 1,000 feet, which is more than the length of a 60-storey skyscraper in Mumbai, the financial daily said.

The 18-acre plot owner, Jagtap, has drilled borewells since 2005 in order to support his farm lands in this rain-starved and non-irrigated region. Sadly, most of these borewells supplied water only for few months and then dried up. "Only 15 of my 48 borewells are working," he confesses, the ET said.

Jagtap, who has spent lakhs on this enterprise, told the ET that each borewell costs a base price of Rs 75,000. He also stated that the price goes up the deeper you drill. The business daily also added Jagtap dreads the peak summer months. He will have to hire water tankers as well, costing up to Rs 3,000 a day, for a span of two months. In all, he spends at least Rs 15 lakh on water each year, a third of his income. (Image: The Times of India)