Water and Sanitation in Birahimpur

The contrast between life in St Leonards and life is Birahimpur seems stark, but even in Birahimpur the differences between my guest accommodation and that ​of my neighbours was noticeable. One morning, having showered in a nicely tiled shower-room I looked out of the landing window of my accommodation at one more stagnant pool of water, last refreshed during the rainy season a year ago. It was a picturesque scene, the peace and quiet broken by an occasional fish jumping.

As I watched, the pool's first visitor appeared. A young lady made her way to the water with a carton of charcoal in hand. She began to wash her teeth with her finger and the charcoal, dipping her finger first into the pool. The next visitor was a man who immersed himself, fully clothed, in the pool. He splashed his head and face with water, walked out and away. The man was followed by a woman with a basket full of laundry and a scrubbing board. Later in the day, the colander of vegetables that had been prepared by the kitchen ladies on the concrete ground, were swished through the pool before cooking.