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World Water Day: India Home to Highest Number Without Clean Water

Five percent of India’s 1.25 billion population are forced to buy water at high rates or use contaminated water.

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India
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A report says India has the world’s highest number of people without access to clean water.

The international charity Water Aid says 75.8 million Indians — or 5 percent of the country’s 1.25 billion population — are forced to either buy water at high rates or use supplies that are contaminated with sewage or chemicals.

Five percent of India’s 1.25 billion population are forced to buy water at high rates or use contaminated water.
A water vendor and residents of an area takes drinking water from a roadside water source in Kolkata. (Photo: AP)

That accounts for more than a tenth of the 650 million people worldwide without clean water access — more any single country in Africa or in China, where 63 million have no access to clean water.

The situation worldwide has improved since 1990, with 2.6 billion people gaining access to clean water since then.

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Poor Management of Water Resources

Poor Indians without water access are forced to spend an average of about 72 cents to buy 50 liters (13 gallons) of water a day, the amount recommended by the World Health Organization, according to the report. That’s nearly 20 percent of their typical daily income, according to the report. By comparison, people in Britain spend about 10 cents a day for 50 litres.

Five percent of India’s 1.25 billion population are forced to buy water at high rates or use contaminated water.
A resident fills the plastic containers with water in Delhi. (Photo: AP)
Poor management of water resources is the biggest problem holding India back. Misappropriation in planning and execution of water supply projects is another key factor. And projects often use inadequate sources, or pipelines do not reach habitations.
WHO Report
Five percent of India’s 1.25 billion population are forced to buy water at high rates or use contaminated water.
A boy carrying filled plastic containers in Delhi. (Photo: AP)

The alternative to buying supplies — using dirty water — comes with sober consequence, sickening countless people every year. About 3,15,000 children die from diarrheal diseases each year, with 1,40,000 those deaths happening in India.

Five percent of India’s 1.25 billion population are forced to buy water at high rates or use contaminated water.
People line up to get drinking water while standing in flood water in Guwahati. (Photo: PTI)

India already faces chronic water shortages and drought, as rivers become increasingly polluted and groundwater reserves rapidly decline thanks to the unchecked use of water pumps by farmers and villagers. The problem is set to worsen as global temperatures rise and rain becomes more erratic with climate change.

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New Delhi, Rajasthan Rolling Out Water Kiosks

Within 15 years, the country is expected to have only half the water it needs to meet competing demands from cities, agriculture and industry.

Five percent of India’s 1.25 billion population are forced to buy water at high rates or use contaminated water.
A devotee taking a dip in the polluted waters of river Ganga in Allahabad. (Photo: PTI)

Some Indian cities, including New Delhi and elsewhere in the northern state of Rajasthan, are rolling out water kiosks in drought-prone areas. Others, including Nagpur, in the central state of Maharashtra, are experimenting with privatisation schemes to try to improve service.

Five percent of India’s 1.25 billion population are forced to buy water at high rates or use contaminated water.
(Photo: Reuters)

The breadbasket state of Punjab, which produces the vast majority of India’s grains, has set up public water filtration units to clean groundwater contaminated by sewage and agricultural chemicals, including pesticides and fertilizers.

Five percent of India’s 1.25 billion population are forced to buy water at high rates or use contaminated water.
A young girl trying to fill water in a parched area. (Photo: Reuters)
We don’t handle public goods well. You need public management systems to manage public goods, and there are no market lessons to help guide that management.
Pavan Sukhdev, Environmental Economist

Experts worry the water crisis could exacerbate community conflicts or regional tensions, and have urged authorities to impose strict regulations on water pumping and water use.

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Water Can Tear This Country Apart: Supreme Court Advisory

The Supreme Court “has already held that the fundamental right to clean water is a right to life,” said court advocate Satya Tripathi, adding that it’s only a matter of time before the issue comes back before the court.

Five percent of India’s 1.25 billion population are forced to buy water at high rates or use contaminated water.
People hold placards during a protest against the shortage of drinking water in New Delhi. (Photo: PTI)

“The government really has to pay attention. Water is the one thing that can tear this country apart.”

While India has the most people lacking clean water access, the much smaller countries of Papua New Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Angola, Chad and Mozambique topped the list of countries with the highest population percentages lacking clean water.

Five percent of India’s 1.25 billion population are forced to buy water at high rates or use contaminated water.
Cans filled with drinking water are displayed for sale on a street in Allahabad. (Photo: AP)

And in Papua New Guinea, the 4.5 million without access — or 60 percent of the Southwest Pacific island country’s population — spend more than 50 percent of their typical income on average on water each day, according to the report.

Five percent of India’s 1.25 billion population are forced to buy water at high rates or use contaminated water.
The extremely polluted Yamuna river. (Photo: PTI)

Rising seas and more frequent extreme weather events — both consequences of ongoing climate change — “will make water supplies, and life in general, ever more fragile,” it said.

(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)

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Topics:  Drinking Water   Contamination 

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