Bichhri still sees red

Compensation, land restoration and access to potable water remain a dream even 35 years after rogue industries poisoned Bichhri's aquifers

- VIVEK MISHRA

THE BELLOWING sound of the water tanker makes Mukesh Rao emotional. The resident of Rajasthan’s Bichhri village in Udaipur district has been waiting for days for the 10,000-litre tanker sent by Hindustan Zinc Limited (HZL), which has a refinery nearby, to arrive. “We are longing for a glass of clean water,” says Rao, who runs a shop in the village. But he is unsure whether he will get any of it. "The tanker provides water for free but some households pay the driver to hoard water," he says.