It is a rocky, uneven path down to the spring where the women of Damthang village in South Sikkim go to fetch their water and trudge uphill with filled containers. Still, they are happy their spring – called Gaddi – now has enough water: they do not have to walk all the way down to the river, saving them about an hour each trip.

Trekking up and down with them, Roshan Rathod, research consultant at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), has learnt how to move on these difficult pathways. She slides down when it is too steep to walk.

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