Every day, Ali Akbar and his team drive from village to village to check on how the villagers are faring in this remote part of Thar. They are determined to provide clean drinking water to countless hamlets that dot this desert.
Their first stop is the village of Samoo Rind. For their everyday needs, the villagers here rely on underground water which is contaminated with high levels of fluoride and hence unfit for human consumption. Consequently, people are crippled and disabled with multiple health issues.
Ali Akbar brought a doctor with him to advise the villagers on how to deal with their ailments. “We use a variety of ways to convince people to drink clean water. Calling in doctors is one of the ways to try and convince villagers that their illnesses are caused by water,” he says.
A son of the soil returns to Thar to raise awareness and funds to make his dream of ‘clean drinking water for all’ a reality
According to the World Health Organisation, water contamination levels should not exceed 1,200tds (total dissolved solids). In Thar, the contamination level is over 4,000tds. This amount can be fatal.
