Mumbai may not feel parched just yet, but the drought-like situation is inching closer to it from the far removed hinterlands in the eastern part of the state. In Shahapur taluka in Thane district, water woes are beggaring villagers.

Taramai Pawar, who lives in Khardi village in Shahapur, travels for nearly an hour by the local to Khadavli once every four days. She carries with her a heap of dirty clothes that need washing. Many others in the village — Laxmi Dighe, for instance — travel by locals to do the chores meant to be done in their households. Dighe travels for an hour to Kasara railway station, where she draws water from the public tap at the station and brings it back to her home in the village.