Rural villages that supply water to Mumbai drying up

Infrastructure for megacity often not linked to villages, which rely on wells

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India Far from the gleaming high-rises of India's financial capital Mumbai, impoverished villages in areas supplying the megacity's water are running dry a crisis repeated across the country that experts say foreshadows terrifying problems.

"The people in Mumbai drink our water but no one there, including the government, pays attention to us or our demands," said Ms Sunita Pandurang Satgir.

Demand is increasing in the world's most populous nation, but supplies are shrinking with climate change driving erratic rainfall and extreme heat.

Large-scale infrastructure for Mumbai includes reservoirs connected by canals and pipelines channelling water from 100km away.

But experts say a failure of basic planning means that the network is often not connected to hundreds of rural villages in the region and several nearby districts. Instead, they rely on traditional wells.

Demand far outstrips meagre resources, and critical groundwater levels are falling.