Mirzapur’s ‘Matka Man’ starts at 4 am to quench thirst of labourers, travellers

Mirzapur: It is 4 am in Jungle Mahal village and the lane outside Ghanshyam Maurya’s house is still dark. The 52-year-old has already left, pushing a wooden handcart loaded with a huge water tank.

Inside, his wife Shashi Lata lights the stove. By the time the roti hits the griddle, Maurya will have crossed several kilometres, stopping at every junction where he has placed earthen pots for labourers, travellers, patients, and passers-by.

At each stop, he lifts the lid, empties the previous day’s water, and refills the pots with fresh drinking water. Some locations get two or three pots. At others, he leaves a thin cotton towel, a pair of slippers, and sometimes biscuits or sweets beside them.

Locals call him the “Matka Man of Mirzapur.” Maurya begins his daily water route from Jungle Mahal village without fail, ensuring no one goes thirsty in the summer heat.

His routine has made him a trusted source of relief for the community, one pot at a time.