SPRINGS that have for centuries met the domestic needs of people in the Himalayan region are now disappearing, leaving them without a dependable natural source of water. Known to be perennial, the springs provide cool, clean and sweet water that gurgles out of mountainsides. From the cold deserts of Lahaul-Spiti to the moist landscape of the northeast, springs have been intrinsic to local cultures. They have been intrinsic to the way of life of mountain communities.

I remember water emerging from a small spring even in summer just upstream of Rishikesh town on Tapovan road. The water was potable and flowed 24/7. Local communities filled water in buckets and tumblers for drinking and cooking. The source was nowhere to be seen. Water, minus any pipe, gushed strongly from pores and cracks. A 15-litre bucket could be filled in just two minutes.