Political economy of boreholes

Via Roving Bandit, the political economy of boreholes:

“Boreholes are the cause of frequent fights amongst women. There are simply not enough bore holes to go around the population and thus it is the principle of first come first served which can create great injustice. There is nobody responsible for order at the bore holes. Often the neighborhood will only hear shouting and insults coming from the boreholes with people whose houses are near by using the shouts as their daily alarm clocks.”

As I commented, this type of water development is really hard, with many more failures than successes.

Update: I enjoyed reading Daniel Rogger’s stylized account of building a borehole in Banglageria, which rings true with my own experiences.