New Delhi: India has the world’s largest number of people without access to safe water, according to a report released to mark World Water Day on Tuesday. China, Bangladesh and Pakistan are also among the top 10 countries where maximum number of people are living without uncontaminated drinking water.
According to the report “Water: At what cost?” released by WaterAid, about 7.6 crore people, which is 5% of India’s total population, are deprived of safe water and the country registers around 1.4 lakh child deaths annually due to diarrhoea, a mainly water-borne disease.
The findings come at a time when there are reports of several parts of Maharashtra facing acute water crisis and even in urban areas people are often forced to use contaminated water. “Most of these people (without access to safe water) are living in around Rs 285 per day. If they have the opportunity to buy water from a tanker, it can cost 1 rupee per litre; sometimes double if supplies are scarce,” the report said.
It has pointed out poor management of water resources as the biggest problem while mentioning how over-extraction of ground water has aggravated the crisis. “Aquifers provide 85% of drinking water, but levels are falling in 56% of the country. Hand pumps are exacerbating the crisis in many areas by depleting shallow aquifers. Misappropriation in planning and execution of water supply projects is another key factor,” it said.
Dipak Kumar Dash | TNN | Mar 23, 2016, 12.53 AM IST
