NEW DELHI, Nov 2: Only two per cent of the Indian households get water from their taps fit enough for drinking directly while another 65 per cent use some modern filtration mechanism to make the water fit for drinking.
According to a survey conducted by LocalCircles, a community social media platform, which released its report on Wednesday with India celebrating the “water week” from November 1, clean drinking water continues to remain a pipe dream for many.
The organisation conducted survey asking people to rate about the quality of piped water that comes to their home from the local municipal/water department or panchayat. While 5% said “very poor” and 15% “poor,” another 5% said they don’t get piped water at their homes at all.
About purifying the water they receive in their taps for drinking, cooking and other purposes, a total of 34% said they use a water purifier; 31% a RO system; 1% use chlorination, alum and other minerals; 14% do so by “boiling” and 5% use clay vessels. There were 7% of households who don’t purify water and get bottled water supply, the findings indicated.
“The government must consider forming mandatory standards for potable water supply to be followed by all local bodies and give them a few years to comply. Once the majority has complied, the standards must be published for public reference, checks and balances,” said Sachin Taparia, the founder of LocalCircles.
It is estimated that around 37.7 million Indians are affected by water-borne diseases annually; 1.5 million children die of diarrhoea alone and 73 million working days are lost due to water-borne diseases each year, according to a study published in BMC Public Health Journal in May this year.
“More than 6% of Indian population lack access to safe water,” according to Water.org, a global civil society organisation. Based on 2017 government data, a UNICEF report stated that only 50% of the population in India has access to safe drinking water that is free from chemical contamination, or presence of dangerous levels of toxins.
(Manas Dasgupta)
