It is dirty and can only be used for watering animals and washing.The only way to get drinking water is from water barons, who bore wells on their land or use intimidation to plunder common sources, then fill up tankers to sell. Near Jodhpur they charge 150 rupees (£2) a tanker but in Mokalashani it is 300 rupees.One day soon, if the people of Mokalashani have not given up and fled, an official will arrive to set up a famine work programme. As subsistence farmers the villagers have no cash coming in but by working in such a programme for eight days they will be able to afford one tanker of drinking water, enough to last one family about a week.But in Mokalashani no such scheme is operating. The only way to get cash is to mortgage land and house and sink into debt. In many poor, drought- prone parts of the Indian countryside a time of drought presents bigger and ruthless landowners with a perfect opportunity for expanding their land-holding when their poor neighbours, faced with the challenge of merely staying alive, are in no position to argue about the terms of a loan.This helps explain why tens of thousands of poor farmers have abandoned the cattle they can no longer feed or water.

They place a tilak, a red “third eye” spot, on the cow’s forehead and thread a string round one ear to indicate that they yield the holy animal to any gaushala, cow sanctuary, which may take pity. But the normal end of such cows is as a heap of bones in a dusty field, picked over by dogs and vultures Such remains can already be seen outside Mokalashani.. The 21 hostages seized by Muslim extremists from a Malaysian resort a week ago lack food, are crowded into a single bamboo hut, and several have diarrhea because of impure drinking water, said a person who saw them Saturday. The 21 hostages seized by Muslim extremists from a Malaysian resort a week ago lack food, are crowded into a single bamboo hut, and several have diarrhea because of impure drinking water, said a person who saw them Saturday.
The hostages, including 10 foreign tourists, had not eaten at midafternoon Saturday, although their captors promised food later in the day, said Arlyn de la Cruz, a freelance journalist with close ties to the captors.”They are living in a small hut with no toilet,” she said “They are not healthy. They are weak.”Some cried and asked for food and bottled water, she said.The hostages include tourists from Germany, France, South Africa, Finland, Lebanon and resort workers from the Philippines and Malaysia.Some had injuries on their feet and legs, apparently because they had to walk over rough terrain to the hut, in a mountainous area of Talipao on Sulu Island in the southern Philippines.Some wore only bathing suits when they were abducted on April 23 from Malaysia’s Sipadan Island, a diving resort about an hour by boat from Sulu.De la Cruz said the captors were Abu Sayyaf Muslim separatists, who have been blamed for numerous kidnappings and attacks in the southern Philippines.Jamasali Abdurahman, a Muslim official who met Friday with representatives of the kidnappers, said they gave him three demands and would present him a fuller list later Saturday that could include a ransom demand.Friday’s demands were for a return of barter trading to the semge fishing boats in the area to protect local fishers, and full implementation of a 1976 agreement for a 13-province autonomous region, he said.Jamasali, an official of a four-province Muslim semiautonomous region that includes Sulu, met with the emissaries on behalf of Nur Misuari, a former Muslim rebel leader named negotiator by President Joseph Estrada.De la Cruz said she walked two hours to the hut where the hostages were held.A group of journalists who attempted to travel through Talipao on Saturday were forced to turn back by armed men who fired in the air and surrounded their cars.Police say the kidnappers asked villagers to act as lookouts in exchange for a share of any ransom money.One of the hostages, Carel Strydom from South Africa, was permitted to talk to DXRZ Radio.

In comments dictated by someone whispering next to him, Strydom said they were all in good health and asked the United Nations to tell the Philippine government to stop its military actions against the rebels.Galib Andang, an Abu Sayyaf commander holding the tourists, said on DXRZ on Friday night that the rebels would talk only with ambassadors from the hostages’ countries.National Security Adviser Alexander Aguirre refused Saturday to remove Misuari.Troops, meanwhile, were attacking an Abu Sayyaf stronghold in neighboring Basilan province Saturday in an attempt to rescue 27 other hostages, including many children, who have been held there for nearly six weeks.While both kidnappings have been blamed on the Abu Sayyaf, they may not be directly related, since parts of the group are only loosely connected, officials say.Abu Ahmad, spokesman for the Basilan rebels, said in a radio interview that the tourists would be beheaded if their ambassadors refused to negotiate.It was not clear how much say Abu Ahmad’s group has with the Sulu group.. Indonesia is to press ahead with proposals to rent out 10,000 uninhabited islands for local and foreign investors to use for tourism ventures, fishing ports or private retreats. Indonesia is to press ahead with proposals to rent out 10,000 uninhabited islands for local and foreign investors to use for tourism ventures, fishing ports or private retreats.
A government official said yesterday that the plan would promote tourism It would also generate foreign income. The country has 17,000 islands, many uninhabited and undeveloped.