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-The Times of India
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<em>CHITALIYA (RAJKOT): </em>In the villages of Jasdan taluka in drought-hit Saurashtra, dalit women prefer to remain silent. That's for the fear of the upper castes in a state whose chief minister Narendra Modi is busy trying to conjure up an eclectic image to subserve his perceived prime ministerial ambitions for 2014 polls.
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&quot;Those people (upper castes) will abuse us again if we speak,&quot; mumbled one of the women, only to be given a warning look by the others.
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The water scarcity in Saurashtra is due to deficient rainfall, but the calamity is man-made for the dalits. Members of the community claim they are not allowed access to Narmada water, the only source of drinking water, by upper caste members. Ironically, upper caste farmers have their own borewells and don't need Narmada water as much.
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The dalits in ten villages of the taluka allege they are not even allowed to draw water from the main sump. &quot;We have to listen to casteist remarks and are even threatened if we get close to the sump,&quot; said Jaya Makwana, who fetches water under scorching sun from a source 3km farther. The worst affected are villages of Chitaliya, Khadvavadi, Kanesara, Parevala, Jivapar, Nani Lakhavad, Kothi, Barvala and Devdhari. There are around 100 dalit families in each village dominated by Kolis.
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Unable to bear both injustice and thirst, women from these villages recently approached the deputy collector with their tale of woes. But the women were allegedly threatened on their return for taking up the issue with the authorities. &quot;Should we remain thirsty because we are untouchables?&quot; Makwana fumed.
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Narmada water in Chitaliya is so erratic that villagers would not even get supply once a week. After the trip to the deputy collector's office, water is being released once in five days. But the dalits say the main sump is still off-limits for them while the small one doesn't get a drop.
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The sump in the dailt area of Kothi village was never connected with the Narmada pipeline. &quot;Our only source was a hand-pump which went dry last month,'' said Maniben Makwana, 65, a dalit.
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&quot;We are looking into complaints of discrimination. We have also directed the water resources department to connect hand-pumps to the pipeline,&quot; deputy collector R H Gadhavi said. 
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