The Case of the Missing Water (2)

Ranj and Sapna Start Searching

Ranj ran and ran until she was panting. She finally sat at the side of the road. "I have to find the water!" she huffed. "Can I help?" said a voice. It was Sapna, who had seen Ranj running away from school. Ranj beamed. "Yes!"

"We have to do this properly," Sapna said. "Like real Sanitary Engineers. Sanitary Engineers build pipes and tanks and drains. I am going to be one when I grow up." Ranj and Sapna decided to draw a map of their village and all its tanks and streams, showing all the places where the water might have flowed. Finally, they sat back and pored over the map.

"We haven't seen that tank yet," Ranj said, pointing to one of the tanks they had drawn. Ranj and Sapna began climbing up the hill. "Maybe we shouldn't have missed school. This tank is probably dry as well," Sapna said sadly.

storyweaver.org.in

The Case of the Missing Water

Planner: Mila Scott

2 days ago

Ranj and Sapna hug the pump in the rain as the tanker man looks on. Illustration from the storybook The Case of the Missing Water.

Discovering the Tanker at the Tank

When they reached the tank, Ranj and Sapna realised they were wrong. This tank was full! Sapna pointed at a small pump at the end of the lake. There was a tanker just below the bund, collecting water as it flowed. A man stood by, guiding the tanker.

"Where are you taking our water?" Ranj wanted to know. "The city," the man said. "They have more people, so they need more water." "That's not fair!" Sapna said. The man shrugged. "That's how it is. Go home. You can't change anything!"

Hugging the Pump as Monsoon Arrives

Ranj had an idea. She ran to the pump and hugged it. "Stop! You can't take our water!" she shouted. Sapna ran up to hug the pump too.

That was when the clouds broke. Thunder roared, lightning slashed, rain poured. "The monsoon is here!" Ranj shouted. "I'm going home, even if you aren't," the tanker man said. Ranj stood tall in the rain. "Don't take our water again!" she called after him. "Our village needs it too."

It rained and rained. WOOSH, the bund overflowed, and the stream rushed down, splashing them. "The water has been found! Mystery solved!" Ranj said.

The Case of the Missing Water (2)

Ranj and Sapna Start Searching

Discovering the Tanker at the Tank

Hugging the Pump as Monsoon Arrives

Related articles