Kalpana’s Story

Monsoon rains and severe flooding hit India hard. More than 17 million people were affected across the country.

In Odisha, where Kalpana lives, the flash flooding caused widespread destruction to homes, livelihoods, and public infrastructure including wells and pipes.

Kalapana and her family had to leave their home immediately. They left all of their belongings behind and took a boat to the nearest evacuation centre.

The entire house was damaged. The roof was gone with the floods. We were in tears thinking about our home and the things we left behind.”

Flood waters not only damaged the infrastructure of wells and other water sources, but it also quickly contaminates this water, filling it with debris, bacteria, potential viruses, and other things that can make a family sick if they drink it. Access to clean water is a human right, but after disaster it can be very difficult to find.

“We haven’t had clean water here since the flood. All water sources are damaged and filled with sediments. We are getting by boiling water fetched from an open well as we have no other alternative solution. We walk long distance to fetch water from clean pools. Things have changed for the worse. One has to go farther and farther to get clean water, leaving us with very little. Clean and good tasting water are hard to come by.”