Even when it’s 47 degrees in the rest of the region, it’s cool here. A little away from us is a patch which clocks in at minus 13 degrees. This is “India’s first Snowdome” – in burning Vidarbha. Keeping its ice rink firm costs Rs. 4,000 a day in electricity charges alone.
Welcome to the Fun & Food Village Water & Amusement Park in Bazargaon gram panchayat of Nagpur (Rural) district. A portrait of Mahatma Gandhi greets visitors in the office of the huge complex. And you’re assured daily disco, ice skating, ice sliding and ‘a well-stocked bar with cocktails.’ The 40-acre park itself offers 18 kinds of water slides and games. Also services for events ranging from conferences to kitty parties.
The village of Bazargaon (population 3,000) itself faces a huge water crisis. “Having to make many daily trips for water, women walk up to 15 kilometres in a day to fetch it,” says sarpanch Yamunabai Uikey. “This whole village has just one sarkari [offical] well. Sometimes, we get water once in four or five days. Sometimes, once in ten days.”
Bazargaon falls in a region declared as scarcity-hit in 2004. It had never faced that fate before. The village also had its share of six hour – and worse – power cuts till about May. These hit every aspect of daily life, including health, and devastated children appearing for exams. The summer heat, touching 47, made things worse.
All these iron laws of rural life do not apply within Fun & Food Village. This private oasis has more water than Bazargaon can dream of. And never a moment’s break in power supply. “We pay on average,” says Jasjeet Singh, General Manager of the Park, “about Rs. 4 lakhs a month in electricity bills.”






