Self Perceived Well-Being and Quality of life of People in a Water Scarce Village in India

Abstract

Water is the elixir of life and forms an indispensable part of all natural and societal systems. Ithas been widely acknowledged that the health and socio economic development of a communitydepends on the availability, quality and management of its water resources. Water scarcity notonly has a direct debilitating effect on health through a host of associated diseases; it also has anindirect but significant bearing on the perceived well-being of individuals. The foregoing study
is steered towards the effect of water scarcity on the perceived health status and quality of life ofa group of people in a rural village in Mewat. This study is based on an inductive approach,focus group discussions, participatory exercises and dialogue with key informants as primarymodes of data collection. The data was sorted and analyzed through latent and manifest contentanalysis. This methodology resulted in appreciative inquiry and situated knowledge based onresidents‘ subjective viewpoints. All the participants in the study setting, are perceived to havea poor quality of life due to financial constraints resulting from precarious livelihoods and poorhealth status, both being primarily attributed to water scarcity. It was revealed that the studiedvillage had no freshwater source. The farming households practised rain fed agriculture, keepingthem in debt and penury. The water for everyday requirements was obtained primarily bywomen and children from far off villages, taking a toll on their effort and productive time. Inlieu of less water, open air defecation was practised, compromising on sanitation and personalhygiene. This resulted in drudgery, with serious repercussions like bouts of infectious diseasesin women and children, fatigue, school absenteeism, physical abuse, domestic violence andmigration. The respondents, mainly Meo Muslims, perceived that water paucity also hinderedthe performance of daily cleansing religious rituals. They reported water scarcity as the mainreason for their physical, mental and social health problems and a major obstacle in their wellbeingand socio economic development. The secondary data also yielded information on aplethora of problems in terms of inadequacy of physical infrastructure and amenities,inaccessible health care facilities and meagre natural capital in the entire Mewat district,Haryana. The study concludes that water is an explicit component of health with clearimplications on both the people‘s quality of life and psychosocial well-being.