India, Jan. 30 -- Since the beginning of this year, a village situated on a hillock in Shahapur has been grappling with a severe water crisis. Fugale, located 120 km from Mumbai and home to 1,600 residents, has seen its wells run dry, some even contaminated with sewage.

Villagers alleged that the bathrooms for labourers working on the Samruddhi highway had poorly constructed sewage lines, which caused the waste matter to seep into the ground and then the wells. Although the tehsildar arranged for a team to investigate the water contamination issue, villagers said they were still waiting for an effective solution.

Every day, women from the village walk down 1.5 km to fill up two 10-litre water containers from small springs and trudge bac...