The Summer is moving in

Hari Om,

Kumbh Mela is going on and many of the members of the Ashram are busy there but in Rajasthan summer has already moved in. The temperature has already topped 42 degrees and is staying  in the 40s basically every day. Sourcing decent water supplies is getting more and more difficult. For example even in the Ashram where we generally have a good supply of water the borings are showing signs of drying up. In order to save water the taps in our bathtrooms and toilets have been disconnected and everyone brings their water with buckets to the rooms. When you have to carry the water you automatically use a lot less!! The conditions in the village areas are inevitably much tougher than in our Ashram where rainwater harvesting is well established.

I returned back from the Kumbh 3 days ago for a quick visit to Pali and Jadan. Today whilst travelling around in the villages I saw evidence of just how serious the situation is. My journey was only 10 km but on the way I saw probably 7 or 8 carcasses of dead wildlife lying in the fields. They were all young animals, not ones that would have passed away of old age so I presume that they have passed away from lack of water or from improper water. All this at the start of summer, with 4 months until the monsoon.

Our efforts to supply water are going on continuously. We have increased the number of places and quantity of water delivered over the last month. In mid April, on returning from the Kumbh Mela we will look at identifying more areas that need assistance and getting water there as quickly as possible. If anyone can help financially so that we can increase our number of deliveries it would be most welcome.

Yours

Swami Jasraj Puri