THE land around me is thirsting for water. I am surrounded by dry brown fields, thorny scrub and dense bushes of cacti. The fields have just been harvested of cotton, the only crop that grows in this drought-prone area.
Gujarat is not the place to criticise large dams. People here are hoping that the huge and controversial Sardar Sarovar dam on the Narmada river will bring water to the state in about a year. They are convinced it will change their lives.
However, it will make little difference to women in remote hamlets, who will still have to rely on…
